i 



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J LIBPlARY OF CONGRESS.} 

}|.lW |opgrigl;t 1^0. ...: } 

^^^^ ..a..(Li 5 |; 

^ 

UNITED STATES OP AMERICA.! 




St. FRA^XIS of Assisi. 



THE LIFE 



OF 4 



^^ 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 



TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF 



REV. CANDIDE CHALIPPE. 

II 



CONGREGATION OF THE ORATORY OF 
ST. PHILIP NERI, 

LONDON. 






**GAUDE MARIA VIRGO, CUNCTAS H^RESES SOLA INTER EMISTl IN UNIVERSO 
MUNDO." — Antiph, Ecclesics. 



NEW YORK : 

D. & J. SADLIER & COMPANY, 31 BARCLAY STREET. 

Montreal : 275 Notre Dame Street, 

1877. 



Thb LnutART 

OF 0(»i6RaS8 




'f'' 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by 

D. & J. SADLIER & CO., 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PREFACE 



TO THE 



AMERICAN EDITION. 



Of all that glorious host of saints whose virtuous lives shed 
undying lustre on the annals of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, 
there is hardly one whose life was more conformable to the -max- 
ims of the Gospel, more nearly a perfect copy of the life of Christ, 
than was the life of him, the subject of the present work. St. 
Francis was, in an age of laxity, a prodigy of penance, humility, 
suffering, love for the cross. Long befare the coming of Francis, 
Europe had been little else than one immense battle-field. Science, 
driven from the world, found refuge in the monasteries, and there 
fed her flickering lamp by the sacred shrine of religion. The 
Church of God was ever battling against widespread ignorance 
and wholesale corruption. Against the ark of God there swelled 
a current of evils, deeper far and darker than ever swelled against 
ber before. But when, from a human standpoint of view, she 
seemed abandoned by her Divine Founder, and, to all appearances, 
was about to succumb to the evils that threatened her very exist- 
ence. He, faithful to His promise to be with her all days, even to 
the consummation of the world, raised up in Italy, that fruitful 
garden of saints, him who, according to the command He gave 
him, repaired His falling house with learning and religion. Grand 
and noble mission, to restore the light of knowledge to darkened, 
blood-stained Europe ; to enkindle anew the fervor of Christian 
charity in society, so long distracted by the petty feuds of rival lords. 
Well did he understand the magnitude of his mission, and right 
well did he accomplish it. True reformer as he was, he struck at 
the veiy root of evil, by devoting his whole life to the work of 
cleansing, purifying, and ennobling the hearts of men; by striving 
to reform all society, by reforming the character of each of its 
members. How wide the difference between him and the so- 
called reformers of the sixteenth ccntuiy, who made it their mis- 
sion, not to reform the manners of a people, but to bring on Europe 



6 PREFACE TO 

that curse of curses, religious war ; to take upon themselves to 
reform the doctrines of Christ's infallible Church, until they and 
their successors have at last reformed away nearly ever}^ article of 
revealed truth, and have substituted, in its stead, a confusing 
jumble of shoreless doctrines. 

St. Francis, the better to effect a speedy and lasting change in the 
face of societ}^, like SS. Anthony and Pacomius of old, became the 
father of a numerous offspring, whom he endued with his own 
burnins: zeal for the interests of God and man: who bore the li2:ht 
of faith to countries shrouded in the gloom of the shadow of death; 
who overran Europe, founding monasteries and institutions of 
learning, instructing the ignorant, preaching to high and low, 
*' the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Europe, torn by intestine 
broils, a prey to the Northman and Saracen, began to recovei 
her pristine vigor and g'Ory, and blessed the name of Francis. 
Such were some of the mighty changes wrought by a man, poor, 
alone, at first without influence ; a man who practised the most 
rigid obsen'ance of the evangelical counsels, Poverty, Chastity, and 
Obedience ; a man who preached to the world Christ crucified : 
that not surfeitings and drunkenness, but mortification and self- 
denial, are the true marks of His followers, ''for the kingdom of 
heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away." The name 
of Francis has ever been a solemn protest against sensuality ; and 
his life will enable us to learn that lesson, too frequently ignored 
in our days and countrv^ : moderation in living. This life will 
teach the people of to-day that the precious ornaments of a Chris- 
tian are those which ennoble the soul— not those which pander to 
the irregular appetites of the body. It will teach man that "dust 
thou art, and to dust thou shalt return," was never spoken of the 
soul, which is akin to the angels — intellectual, immaterial, undying, 
and eternal. Consequently, its adornment by the practice of virtue, 
and not the gralifieaticn of the body, should form the lofty object 
of man's ambition. The prevailing sentiment of our age is, that 
we enjoy the good things that are present ; that we clothe ourselves 
in soft raiment; fill ourselves with costly meat and drink. Such, 
however, is not the teaching of Him born in a stable, and pre- 
eminently styled the ''Man of sorrows." Such is not the lesson 
taught by the life of His fervent disciple, St. Francis, but rither 
th^U the poor in spirit possess the kingdom of heaven; that meat 
and drink are not the kingdom of heaven, neither is the gratifi- 
cation of the bodily appetites ; but it is like to a merchant seeking 
a priceless treasure, and selling all he has to procure it. Love not 
the world, nor those things which are in the world; if any man love 
the world, the charity of the Father is not in him. Since such is 
the lesson taught by the Life of St. Francis, great good can be 
effected by its publication. Through the efforts of the eminent 



THE AMERICAN EDITION. 7 

publishers, Messrs. D. & J. Sadlier, & Co., we are, at last, pre- 
sented with what justly deserves the name of a Life of St. Francis, 
founded on the labors of the great Irish Franciscan, Luke Wading, 
rendered into English by the eminent Oratorian Fathers, of 
London. It stands in need of no praise of ours to recommend it 
to a generous public. We have read the work, and we heartily 
commend it as a true and succinct account of the life of our 
Seraphic Father, St. PVancis. 

Father Charles da Nazzano, O. S. F., 

Custos ProvinciaL 

St. Bonaventure's College, 

Allegany, N. Y., 

Jlj?n7, 1877. 




I 



PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR, 

FATHER CANDIDE CHALIPPE, RECOLLECT. 

WHEREIN THE PREJUDICES OF CERTAIN PERSONS AGAINST THE MIR- 
ACLES WHICH ARE RECORDED IN THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS ARE 
SHOWN TO BE BOTH UNREASONABLE AND DANGEROUS, AND THAT 
THE MIRACLES ATTRIBUTED TO SAINT FRANCIS ARE VERY WELL 
AUTHENTICATED. 

A VERY common failing amongst men is to adopt one extreme 
in the endeavor to avoid another, and sometimes not to perceive 
that the extreme into which they fall is greater than that which 
they had sought to flee from. To insure themselves against weak 
incredulity, some have imbibed such prejudice against the miracles 
in the Lives of the Saints, that they cannot endure to hear of them; 
the very ideas of miracles, revelations, ecstasies, visions, apparitions, 
are hateful and disgusting to them; all that is said on these subjects 
they look upon as fabulous and incredible ; they call in question 
the most undeniable evidence, or attribute these wonders to natural 
and unknown causes. The wonders which are recorded in the 
Life of St. Francis, afford an opportunity of grappling with these 
prejudices ; it must first be shown that they are unreasonable, of 
which here is the proof 

In the first place, no man using his right reason will reject the 
wonders recorded in the Lives of the Saints, because of their im- 
possibility ; there are only such senseless individuals as Spinosa, 
who ventured to say that miracles are impossible, and by arguments, 
as absurd * as they are impious, attempt to limit the almighty 
power of God, and, subjecting it to a sort of necessity, destroy 
the idea of the all perfect Being. Miracles are extraordinary events, 
which break through the laws of nature, and exceed the force ol 
all natural causes ; it is only necessary to make use of our reason 

* See *' Reflexions surrAtli(§isme," by Father deTournemine, and the Mcm- 
oires de Trevoiix, July. 1722, Art. 66, on the book entitled '' La Religion Chrc- 
tienne prouv^c par les Faits," the author of which, the better to triumph over 
Spinosism, another subject of miracles, has, without thinking of it, furnished 
him with arms by a singular opinion. Mr. Tournely refutes it, and shows 
that it is a mere chimera. — Proclect. Tlieolog. dc Incarn., quxst. 3, p. 263. 



lO 



PREFACE. 



to be aware that God, whose power is infinite, having freely estao- 
Ushed these laws, may, whenever He thinks tit, break through 
them Himself by the ministr}- of His creatures, whom He makes 
use of as He pleases ; that these suspensions may enter into ihe 
external designs of His wisdom and providence, and that they 
occur by successive acts, without there having been any change in 
Him, because it is an act of His will which causes them, as it does 
ever)' other thing. Now this proves that miracles are possible, and 
that^ there is no impossibility in the wonders recorded in the Lives 
of the Saints. 

In the second place, these wonders ought not to cause an in- 
credulous surprise in any sensible person who pays due attention 
to the wonders of nature. ''Man,'" says St. Augustine, ''sees 
extraordinary things happen, and he admires them, while he 
himself, the admirer, is a great vronder, and a much greater 
miracle than any things which are done by the intervention of 
man. There is nothing more marvellous done in the v>-orld, 
which is not less wonderful than the world itself All nature is 
full of what is miraculous ; we seem unconscious of it, because 
we see those things daily, and because this daily repetition lowers 
them in our eyes. And this is one reason why God has reserved 
to Himself other things out of the com.mon course of nature, on 
which He shows His power from time to tirne, in order that their 
novelty may strike us ; but when we consider attentively, and with 
reflection, the miracles we constantly see, we find that they are far 
greater than others, however surprising and uncommon these 
may be.'"* 

The holy doctor admits that the prodigies which are out of the 
common course of nature, and which are properly called miracles, 
are to be viewed with astonishment, since they are works of God, 
worthy of admiration ; he only requires that the surprise they 
cause shall be qualified by a consideration of the wonders of 
nature, to which he likewise gives the name of miracles, in a 
more extended sense : on the same principle, and a fortiori, what 
there is surprising in them should not make them appear to us 
incredible. An enlightened mind does not believe in miracles 
which are communicated to him, unless due proof of them is 
adduced ; but it is not because what is wonderful in ihem renders 
him incredulous, because he sees more mar\-eilous things in the 

* Videt homo insolita, et miratur— cum sit ipse miralor magnum miraculum. 
— Serm. 126, alias 32. ex homil. 50. — Omni miraculo quod fit per hominem 
majus miraculum est homo. — De Civ. Dei, l, 10. c. 12. — Quidquid mirabiie fit 
in hoc mundo. profecto minus est quam totus hie mundus. — Ibid. — Omnis 
natura rerum plena miraculi.^. — Epist. 102. alias 49, n. 5, Trin. 24, in Joan, 
n. I, et alib. — Quam vis miracula visibilium naturarum videndi assidui:ate vilue- 
rint ; tamen cum ea sapienter intuemur inusitatissimis rarissimisque majora 
sunt. — De Civ. Dei^ sup. 



PREFACE. 1 1 

universe and in himself. If men who apply themselves to the 
study of nature, are pertinacious in refusing to believe in the mir- 
acles of the saints, it is because they do not make use of the light 
they have received, and do not reason deductively ; they have 
only sought to gratify their curiosity, or to gain credit for their 
discoveries ; and do not some of them lose themselves in their 
speculations, and become impious, even so as to recognize no 
other God than nature itself.? 

In the third place, faith in the great mysteries of religion must 
incline us to believe in the wonders we read in the Lives of the 
Saints. We say to the Calvinists : '^You believe the mysteries 
of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Resurrection ; why, then, 
are you so obstinate in refusing to believe the Real Presence.? 
They are equally wonderful and incomprehensible.'' Are we, 
then, not called upon to say to those whose prejudices we oppose : 
" As you belong to the society of the faithful, you not only believe 
that three persons make only one God ; that the Son of God was 
made man ; that the dead shall rise again ; but also, that Jesus 
Christ becomes every day present on our altars, under the species 
of bread and wine, at the words of consecration ; and you believe 
all the other astonishing wonders that are proposed to you in our 
holy religion : why, then, do you find such repugnance in believing 
those of the Lives of the Saints, which are far inferior to the 
former" ? 

It is useless to say in answer, that these last are only based on 
human testimony, which we are not obliged to receive; that the 
mysteries are propounded to us by divine authority, to which we 
are bound to submit ; for this is not the question before us. We 
only compare one wonder with another, and we maintain that the 
belief in the one should facilitate the belief in the other. In fact, 
if we believe with a firm and unshaken faith what God, in His good- 
ness, has been pleased to effect for the salvation of all men, and what 
He continues daily to effect in the Eucharist ; may we not easily 
convince ourselves that He may have given extraordinary marks 
of His affection for his most faithful servants? 

In the fourth place, similar wonders to those which are found in 
the Lives of the Saints are also found in the Holy Scriptures. Rap- 
tures, ecstasies, frequent visions and apparitions, continual revela- 
tions, an infinity of miracles, miraculous fasts of forty days, are 
things recorded in the Old and New Testaments. We believe all 
these wonderful circumstances, and we are obliged to believe them, 
although they far surpass our understanding ; on what, then, shall 
we rely for maintaining that the wonders recorded in the Lives of 
the Saints are improbable, and that we may reasonably call them 
in question ? Reason, on the contrar}% marks them as so much 
the mcjre i)rol)ablc and worthy of credit, as we know and 'believe 



1 2 PREFACE. 

similar ones which we may not doubt of. Christians should be 
accustomed to what is marvellous, and require nothing but proofs 
for the most unusual prodigies. 

In the fifth place, the promise which Jesus made that the 
power of working miracles should be given to true believers, gives 
authority to the belief in miracles in the Lives of the Saints. 
*' Amen, amen,. I say to you, he that believeth in me, the works 
that I do he shall do also, and greater than these shall he do ; 
because I go to the Father. And whatsoever you ask the Father 
in my name, that will I do."* "And these signs shall follow 
them that believe : In my name they shall cast out devils ; they 
shall speak with new tongues ; they shall take up serpents ; and 
if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ; they 
shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. "'* -f 

Our Saviour, according to the doctrine of the holy fathers, J 
has promised the gift of miracles, not to each one of the faithful 
in particular, but to the Church in general ; and His promise is 
for all times, when the good of religion requires its accomplishment. 
Heretics pretend that it only related to the days of the apostles, 
and that miracles were only required for the establishment of the 
faith. What right have they to limit the words of the Son of 
God ? Do they imagine that they understand the Scriptures better 
than the holy doctors.? How will they prove that since the time 
of the apostles there have been no combinations of circumstances 
in which the good of religion shall have required that miracles 
should be performed.? They were required for the infidels^ to 
whom the Gospel has been preached in different centuries, as 
well as for the Greek and Roman idolaters, to whom it was first 
armounced. The Church has required them to silence the 
heretics who have successively endeavored to impugn her dogmas, 
and to strengthen the faith of her own children. They have been 
always useful for manifesting the eminence of virtue, for the glory 
of God, for the conversion of sinners, for reanimating piety, for 
nourishing and strengthening the hopes of the good things of 
another life. We are, therefore, justified in saying that the promise 
of Jesus Christ is for all times, in certain occasions, and that the 
belief in the miracles in the Lives of the Saints is authorized 
thereby. 

In the sixth place, that there have been miracles in the Lives of 
the Saints are facts, the proofs of which are unquestionable. The 
Acts of the Martyrs, which have always been read in the Church, 

* John xiv., 12, 13. 
t Mark xvi., 17. 18. 

t S. Chrys. de S. Babyla contra Gent., No. 12, edit nov. ; S. Augiis. de; 
Civit. Dei, lib. 22, c. 8; et Retract., lib. I, c. 13 et 14: S. Greg., Moral., lib. 
34, n. 7, edit. nov. 



PREFACE. 1 3 

and the genuineness * of which has been admitted by the most 
talented critics, contain recitals of the most wonderful events : the 
confessors of the faith instantaneously cured, after having under- 
gone the most cruel tortures ; wild beasts tamed and crouching 
at their feet ; lights and celestial voices, apparitions of Jesus Christ 
and His angels, and many other wonderful circumstances. 

In the first six centuries there are scarcely any ecclesiastical 
writers and holy fathers who do not record miracles worked by 
the servants of God, and by their relics ; and they speak of them 
as of things v/hich they have either seen with their own eyes, or 
were of public notoriety. 

Saint Justin Martyr, in the second century, speaking of the 
power of Jesus Christ over the demons, in his Apology, addressed 
to the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, and to the 
Roman Senate, says : ^' You have proofs of what passes before your 
eyes, and in your city, and in all the rest of the world ; for you 
know that many of those possessed, not having been able to be 
delivered by your exorcists, enchanters, and magicians, have been 
so by the Christians, who have exorcised them in the name of 
Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate." f 

Saint Ireneus assures us that in the same century some true dis- 
ciples of Jesus Christ had received supernatural gifts, which they 
made use of advantageously for other men: ^^SomiC," says he, 
^^ drive away devils ; and this is certain, that often those who have 
been delivered embrace the faith, and join the Church. To others 
it is given to know the future, and to have prophetic visions. 
Others cure the. sick by the imposition of hands, and restore ihem 
to perfect health. Very often, even in every place, and for some 
requisite cause, the brethren solicit, by fasting and fervent prayers, 
the resurrection of a dead person, and obtain it ; these dead, thus 
revived, have lived with us for several years afterwards. Wnat 
shall I say further.? It is not possible to enumerate the extra- 
ordinary gifts which the Church receives from God, and what she 
operates in every part of the world, in favor of the nations, in the 
name of Jesus Christ crucified.'' J 

''We can,'' says Origen, writing against Celsus, "shi)\v an 
immense multitude of Greeks and barbarians who believe in our 
Lord Jesus Christ ; there are some who prove their faith In* tiie 
power of working miracles. They cure the sick by invoking their 
God, the Creator and the Sovereign Lord of all things ; and the 

■* Sec Dom. Thierri Riiynard, PiwHit. in Ada Martyruni: and Kallior 
Honort§ de Sainte Marie. Kcllcxions i^iir Ics "Jxeglcs cL svir riIsa^i;o dc la 
Critique, Dissert. 4, Art. I, et sc(j. 

t S. Justin, Aj)i)l. 2, SCO. i, p. 45. 

I S. Ircn. cont. II;vrcs., lib. 2, c, 32, alias 57, n. 4 and 5, c. 31, a.ias 06, 
n. 2 and ;, lil). ';, ( . (>, n. 1. 



14 PREFACE. 

name of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, of whose Gospel they recite a 
part. We ourselves have seen several sick persons lieiivered from 
the most formidable maladies, and the. cured are too numerous to 
be counted. '' * 

Tertullian, in his Apolog}', and in another work, records plainly 
the miraculous fall of rain which was obtained from heaven by the 
prayers of the Christian soldiers, which saved the army of the 
Emperor Marcus Aurelius, which was reduced to the last extremit}'. 
He proves the truth of this fact by the very letter of the emperor. + 
We have also authentic proofs of this event in the authors and 
records of paganism itself Tertullian, likewise, tells us that the 
pagans received extraordinary' graces, by means of the Christians, 
some of which he quotes, and he adds : " How many persons of 
distinction, without mentioning other people have been thus 
delivered from the devil, and cured of their evils !'*| 

Sl Cyprian upbraided an idolater in the following terms, while 
refuting him : "The gods whom you adore we exorcise in the 
name of the true God, and they are compelled to leave the bodies 
which they possessed. Oh, if you chose to see and hear them, 
when suffering under the power of our words, as if they were 
spiritual scourges, and feeling the secret operation of the divine 
master/ ! They howl terrifically, entreat of us to spare them, declare, 
in presence of their adorers, whence they came, and confess a 
future judgment Come and be con\-inced of the truth of what we 
say ; be at least moved. Those whom you- adore, fear us ; those to 
whom you pray, entreat of us to spare them ; those whom you 
revere as sovereigns, are as prisoners in our hands, and tremble as 
so many slaves. We interrogate them, and in your presence they 
declare what they are : they cannot dissemble the impostures 
which they make use of to deceive you.'"§ 

Such are the miracles which many of God's servants operated 
in the^ second and third centuries, and which cannot be called in 
question. How many d liferent kinds are recorded in subsequent 
times by St. Basil, and by St Gregor}' of Nyssa, in the life of 
St. Gregor}' Thaumaturgus ; by St Athanasius, in the life of St 
Anthony ; by Sulpicius Severus, in the life of St. ^lartin : by 
St Chr}sostom, St. Jerome, St Ambrose. St. Augustine, St. Pauli- 
nus, in many parts of their works : by Theodoret, in his religious 
histor}' ; by Pope St Gregor}', in his dialogues : by St Hilar}^ 
of Aries, St. Ouen, and very many others worthy of credit ! 

* Orig. cont. Cels., lib. 3, p. 124, and lib. I. p. 5, lib. 2. p. 62, lib. 8, p. 337. 
Edit. Cantabrig., 1658. 

t See S. de Tilieraont, Histoire des Empereurs, torn. -2, p. 407, et seq. 
Lib. ad Scapul., supra, 

t Tertut Apol., n. 5, p. 6, et lib. ad Scapul., n. 4, p. 71, Edit. Rigalt. 

V^ S. ^ > pr. ad Demet., p. 201, et de Idol. Var.. p. 206, Edit Rigalt. el alibi. 



PREFACE. I 5 

These saintly and learned Bishops, Avitus, Metropolitan of 
Vienne, Stephen of Lyons, Eon of Aries, conferring with the 
Arians, in presence of Gondebauld, King of the Burgundians, 
after having proved the consubstantiality of the Word, by the 
testimony of the Scripture, and by powerful arguments, offered to 
give additional proof thereof by miracles, if tke heretics would pro- 
mise to acquiesce in consequence ; and quoted the example of St. 
Remigius, Apostle of the French, who was then living, and setting 
up the faith on the ruins of idolatiy by a multitude of prodigies."^ 

The miracles operated by means of relics are neither less well 
authenticated, nor less celebrated ; they were known to the whole 
world. St. x\ugustine was an eye-witness of them ; being at 
Milan when St. Ambrose discovered, by means of a revelation, the 
spot where the bodies of SS. Gervasius and Protasius reposed. f 
He saw a great many miracles performed in Africa by the relics 
of St. Stephen, of which he makes mention in his book of the 
City of God, I written for the confutation of the most learned of 
the pagans, wherein he says that, to quote only those operated in 
the dioceses of Calame and Hippo, several books would not 
suffice. Nicetius, Bishop of Treves, writing to Clodosvinda, or 
Glotinda, Queen of the Lombards, to exhort her to solicit the 
conversion of King Alboi'n, her husband, advised her to make 
use of the visible miracles which were operated at the tomb of St. 
Martin, and by the invocation of St. Germanus, St. Hilary, St. 
Lupus, St. Remigius, and St. Medardus. § They were so evident, 
that the heretics dared not call them in question, and could not 
deprive them of their splendor. God made use of these for the 
conversion of kings, and of the entire nations. || 

In all ages after the six first centuries, the prodigies of the Lives 
of the Saints are noticed by numerous authors of all countries, 
whose talents, learning, probity, holiness, and dignity, render them 
respectable to the most searching critics. They are supported by 
incontrovertible evidence, by juridical depositions, by authentic 
acts, and by splendid monuments which have been erected to their 
memory by bishops, princes, magistrates, cities and kingdoms, 
to perpetuate the recollections of these splendid achievements. 
We find that the saints have made numerous predictions, which 
have been justified by the event; and that, either moved by the 
spirit of God, or compelled by obedience, they have admitted the 
supernatural operations which they felt in their souls. Finally, 
the prodigies which are found in the Lives of the Saints have 
always been considered as indubitable facts amongst the faithful ; 
the Church recognizes them, and they form one of the objects of 

* Spicil Dacher, torn. 5, p. no. f S. Aug. Confess., lib. 9. cap. 7. 

X De Civ. Dei, lib. 22, cap. 8. ^ Concil. Ccncrnl. I>:il)b., torn. 5. p. 835. 

II Grey. Turon. de Mirac. S. Marliiii, lib. i, cap. 11. 



1 6 PREFACE. 

their piety and devotion ; no one is placed in the catalogue of 
saints whose sanctity has not been attested from heaven, by means 
of miracles ; and she takes such rigorous precautions, and carries 
their strictness so far,* that, according to all human prudence, it 
is impossible she should be deceived. 

We now ask whether it can be permitted to think and to say 
that such facts are absolutely false, and should only be looked 
upon as fables un\vorthy of credence ? In such case it would 
be necessary to abrogate the rule judiciously and universally 
received in the world, that facts which have nothing incredible in 
themselves are not to be controverted when duly proved ; it would 
be also necessar}- to refuse credence to all that is related in sacred 
and profane histor}^; to lay down as a maxim to believe nothing but 
what we see, and to refuse to receive the testimony of the honorable 
people with whom we live. Now, this is what is requisite to 
prove and convince every man of good sense that the prejudice 
against the miracles of the Lives of the Saints is quite unreasonable ; 
but this does not point out its quality sufficiently : it is senseless 
and ridiculous, it is rash, and, what is more, it is dangerous. 

The Protestants are opposed to these marvels, as, indeed, they 
are to almost ever}'thing that is religious. They do not call in 
question the evidence : on the contrary, they produce it, and we 
find it correctly set forth by the Centuriators of Magdeburg, in each 
century ; but, because it was confirmatory of the truth of the 
Catholic Church and its dogmas, which they did not choose to 
believe, they affected to say that the narratives were fabulous, or 
delusions of the devih They were even daring enough to say that 
the fathers of the Church were either imposed upon, or impostors ; 
they cast aside all tradition ; the saints were considered as vision- 
aries, and they turned into ridicule canonizations grounded on 
miracles. 

Catholics ought to be cautious in adopting anything coming 
from heretics ; their opinions are almost always contagious. This 
is apparent in systems, which, so to express it, border on theirs, 
and lead, in a course of reasoning, to erroneous conclusions, 
which indeed are denied, but without being able to show that 
they are inconsistent. We admit that all those who are prejudiced 
against the mar\'els in the Lives of the Saints, do not go so far as 
the Protestants do : the excesses of the latter, however, are the 
natural, necessary, and almost immediate, consequences of such 
prejudices. 

* In the life of the Blessed John Francis Regis, of the Society of Jesus, 
Father Daubenton, of the same' Society, Confessor to H. M. Catholic Majesty, 
mentions an anecdote of an English 'gentleman, a Protestant, which shows 
the scrupulous exactness of the Holy See, in the verification of miracles. — Book 
vi" P- 334> in quarto. 



PREFACE. 1 7 

Whoever denies what the fathers of the Church attest as having 
seen, or having been authentically informed of, must conclude 
that they were either very credulous, or deceived the people. To 
refuse to believe the marvels which have reached us by an uniform 
and universal tradition, is to call in question all tradition; to 
render all its channels suspicious, and to cause it to be looked 
upon as a questionable proposition. What can be thought of 
the saints, if the miraculous graces, which they certify that they 
have received from God, are to be treated as chimeras; if the 
accomplishment of what they have foretold, is to be attributed to 
chance ? What even can be thought of their most heroic victims ? 
What opinion will be formed of their acts ? Will they be deemed 
more trustworthy in other matters? When it is asserted that 
there have been no miracles since the days of the apostles, it 
must be said, by a necessary consequence, that the Church, which 
grounds canonization on miracles, makes use of falsehood in that 
most solemn and religious act, and that the public worship which 
the Church directs is uncertain. Now this very much resembles 
heresy ; for the great principles of religion teach us * that on these 
occasions the Church receives peculiar enlightenment from the 
Holy Ghost, by which she can neither be deceived herself, nor 
can she deceive others. 

These miracles, it is said, are not articles of faith, and the 
Church does not oblige us to believe them. As if nothing was 
believed in the world but such things as are of faith ; as if it was 
not dangerous obstinately to reject those things which are sanc- 
tioned by the authority of the holy fathers, by reason and by 
piety, by tradition and by the Church, and which cannot be 
rejected without fatal consequences ! 

This incredulity attacks, moreover, one of the proofs of the 
divinity of Jesus Christ, which the fathers adduced against the 
pagans. St. Chrysostom having asserted, on the subject of the 
miracles of the martyr, St. Babylas, that our Saviour, on the night 
of His passion, had promised to those who should believe in Him, 
the power of working these miracles, adds : ^' It had been ante- 
cedently seen that many had taken upon themselves the character 
of masters, who had disciples, and who boast of performing 
wonders ; nevenheless, we do not hear of any who had ventured 
to promise their disciples the same power. The insolence of their 
impostures did not go so far, because they knew that no ono 
would believe them ; all the world being convinced that it is only 
given to God to make a similar promise, and to fulfil it.'^f On 
this principle the holy doctor proves that Jesus Christ is God, 

* Melcli. Canus. Loc. Theolog., lib. 5, quajst. 5, coiiel. 3. M. Tournely, De 
Ecclt'b., torn. 2, ])p. 586, 587; etalii. 

tS. Aug. De Civil. iJci, lib. 22, cap. 10. 



rb PREFACE. 

since He has given to those who believe in Him the power of 
working miracles, which His disciples actually did, and which 
His servants now do. St. Augustine makes use of the same proofs, 
in his book of the City of God. Thus the miracles of the saints 
have in all ages been adduced as proofs of the divinity of our 
Saviour ; and this is what those endeavor to do away with, who, 
without reflection, consider them as fables. * 

Another danger is, that they speak of these mar\'els according 
to their own prejudices. They openly say that they do not believe 
them, and that persons ought not to have the weakness to believe 
them ; they speak contemptuously of the books in which they are 
recorded ; they cannot endure that they should form part of pane- 
gyrics of the saints. They make use of impious derisions, and 
turn into ridicule the faithful who credit them, and they censure 
the conduct of the Church which consecrates them. Such dis- 
course sanctions heresy and licentiousness ; worldlings and the 
indevout applaud it, the tepid seem to consent to it, and the falsely 
devout approve it ; it is a scandal to the weak, and a dishonor to 
religion. 

It is also to be feared that prejudices against what is wonderful 
in the Lives of the Saints may spread to other subjects, if we only 
judge from the principles which are the cause of them. For, in 
what do these principles consist.-* They are not grounded on 
reason or religion : they must, therefore, have a basis of incredulit}'' 
for everything which they do not understand : the foolish vanity 
of being thought singular ; ignorance, which boldly repudiates 
what it knows nothing of; keeping company with libertines; a 
conformit}' of feeling with heretics, and the spirit of the world, 
which is the enemy of all piety. Such calamitous causes give 
room to fear the most fatal effects. 

In general, the libert}^ only to believe those things which we 
choose, on points in which religion is concerned, is very dangerous ; 
it often makes a destructive progress, for its first attempts embolden 
it Persons are easily persuaded that all miraculous narratives are 
false, though the Church guarantees the truth of many ; and when 
this same Church pronounces on dogmatical facts, declaring such 
and such propositions to be heretical which are in such and such 
a book, and exacts an interior submission t of heart and mind, 

* S. Chrys., lib. in S. Babyl. et contra Gent., torn. 2, p. 536, n. I and 12. 
Edit. nov. 

t The interior deference of mind and heart which the Church requires for 
the decision of dogmatic facts, must be extended so far as to consider this 
decision as infallible and irreclaimable. It is what the Abbe Tournely invin- 
cibly establishes, by the proofs which he brings to this conclusion: **Ecclesia 
accepit a Christo auctoritatem judicandi de sensu seu doctrina propositionum, 
librorum et auctorum, ac fideles ad suam subscribendam sententiam compel- 



.PREFACE. 1 9 

do these doubters show more dociUty ? Do they not cloak their 
disobedience by a respectful silence, always ill kept, and finally ' 
broken through by open rebellion ? Do we not see persons in the 
world speaking irreverently of relics, purgatory, indulgences, and 
even of the holy mysteries, after having treated contemptuously 
the marvels of the Lives of the Saints ? 

Certain critics admit these marvels, but have imbibed the idea 
that falsehood is so mixed up with the truth, that they cannot be 
separated but by using certain rules, which they take upon them- 
selves to lay down. This prejudice is not less dangerous, nor less 
unreasonable than the other. 

Because some inconsiderate writers, who cannot be too severely 
censured, have given scope to their imagination in certain legends, 
and have employed fiction for the embellishment of their narra- 
tives, the doubters pretend that the whole history of the saints is 
full of impostures ; nevertheless, pure sources have been the basis of 
their authentic acts, in the works of the fathers, and in an infinity 
of authors well worthy of credit, and in the Bulls of Canonization. 
An Asiatic priest, as related by St. Jerome, who quotes Tertul- 
lian,* composed false acts of St. Thecla, through an ill-under- 
stood sentiment of devotion : — does it follow from that that the 
truth of many other acts which were there read, and which we still 
possess, is to be set aside ? Moreover, the Church has remedied 
the evil ; she has rejected the false prodigies ; she has expunged 
from the legends the indiscreet additions ; a new edition f has been 
long since placed in the hands of the faithful, which only contains 
the well-authenticated and certain miracles. 

A learned man J has demonstrated that the rules of these critics 
for the elucidation of these miracles are not judicious ; that they 
are extravagant, and that it would be risking too much to follow 
them ; that they are contradictory, and not in unison with each 
other ; that it often happens that they reject or admit miracles 
against their own principles. If they find splendid ones, and many 
of them in the same legend, they hold them to be suppositious 

lendi : cui proinde tenentiir illi acquiescere interna mentis et judicii adhsesione, 
noil solo, lit vocant religioso silenlio : atque certiim est nee errori obnoxium 
hujuscemodi Ecclesice judicium.'^ — De Eccles., torn, ii., art 5, p. 533, et seq., 
p. 446, et seq. ' - ' ^ 

* St. Hieron., de vScn'pt. Eccles. in I^ica. 

t There nre two in P\-ench, which the faithful may safely read : the one by 
the Rev. Fatliers Martin and Giry, of tlie order of Minims, of which iliere 
are many editions ; the other by the Rev. Father Croiset, of the Society of 
Jesus, entitled: ''The Lives of the Saints for every day in the year, with 
moral reflections at the end of each life." In two vols, folio, at Lyons, at 
the Widow A. Baudet, 1723. 

t Father Honore de Sainte Marie, a barefooted Carmelite, in his '• Reflexions 
sur les Regies et sur 1' Usage de la Critique," tom. i.. Dissert. 4. art. 3. 4, and 
5, and in other parts of that woik, condemns everywhere all ultra-criticism. 



20 PREFACE. 

or altered, although the oldest and most authentic documents 
contain similar ones ; they reject them as false, \\-ithout assigning 
any reason in proof of their having been falsified ; they pretend 
that the authors who have recorded them were too credulous, 
though they received other articles en the testimony of these same 
authors. In order to believe them, they require perfect certainty, 
although they give credit to many circumstances in ecclesiasticaJ 
and profane history on mere probabilities. One of them * pro 
fesses not to omit a single miracle which is vouched for by good 
authority, nevertheless, he suppresses many of the most consider- 
able : and many of those which he feels compelled to bring for- 
ward, he does so in terms which mark doubtfulness, to say noth- 
ing more. 

Thus, the ultra-critics, while admitting the wonders of the Lives 
of the Saints, reduce them to nothing by rules, which they invent 
for separating truth fi-om falsehood, as those who profess to believe 
an infallible authority in the Church make that infallibility to 
depend on so many conditions, that they may always maintain 
that the Church, dispersed or assembled, has never come to any 
decision in opposition to their errors. 

It is, they say, the love of truth which induces them to examine 
most scrupulously the miracles of the saints ; nothing should be 
believed, or be proposed to belief, but what is true. But Bossuet * 
said of bad critics : * * They are content, provided they can pass 
for more subtle obser\'ers than others, and they find themselves 
sharper, in not giving credit to so many wonders." The love of 
truth does not consist in denying its existence, where so many 
persons of first-rate genius have found it ; it does not depend on 
rendering obscure the light it sheds, nor in giving to the public 
Lives of Saints accompanied by a dr}*, bitter, and licentious cnticism, 
calculated to throw doubt on all that is extraordinar)^ in them, 
and thereby to give scandal. The learned Jesuits, the continu- 
ators of Boliandus, show, by the precision of their researches, that 
they are sincere lovers of truth, but we do not see that they 
endeavor to diminish the number of miracles : '* They have no idea 
of taking them for fictions ; nothing astonishes them in the lives 
of the friends of God, pro^^ded it be well attested. "J Father 
Thomassin, of the Orator\\ in his treatise on the Celebration of 
Festivals,! speaks of a miraculous event which occurred in the 
sixth century, and which is reported by Boliandus, and he adds : 
** These sorts of miracles are by no means articles of faith, but, 

* M. Baillet, in his notices on the Lives of the Saints, Xe. 7. [ This work 
is on the index of prohibited books. — Oraiorian Editor. ] 
t Instruction on the New Testament of Trevoux, p. 21. 
X See Memoirs de Trevoux. 1722. January, art. 3, pp. 96, 97. 
j Liv. II, chap. 21, n. 16. page 435. 



PREFACE. 2 1 

nevertheless, they are not to be rejected by sage and considerate 
persons. Upon reading the works of St. Cyprian, St. Augustine, 
St. Ambrose, and St. Jerome, and those of St. Gregory of Nyssa, 
of St. Basil, and St. Athanasius, we can have no doubt that these 
fathers had no difficulty in believing similar occurrences, similarly 
attested. St. Augustine, indeed, has related several much more 
incredible ; and it is greatly to be feared that to set one's self above 
the Augustines, the Jeromes, the Gregories, and the most learned 
fathers of the Church, must be the effect of a most dangerous 
pride." 

It is objected that the multitude is credulous ; that it likes the 
marvellous, and should not be exposed to believe untruths. But 
credulity is far less dangerous than incredulity ; the one admits of 
cure much easier than the other ; the former, in proper limits, may 
b^ very useful, the latter engenders nothing but evil. Some one* 
has said, that the love of the marvellous is the ancient malady of 
mankind ; it would, perhaps, be more accurate to say, that it is a 
remainder of their original greatness ; and that, being created to wit- 
ness the marvels of the Divinity, they are impelled, by an interior 
impulse, to believe whatsoever seems to them to approach to 
them, until such time as their vision shall be fully gratified. This 
impulse only becomes a malady when it receives wonderful things 
which are absurd, or without any foundation. Aversion from the 
marvellous, which has its origin in the weakness of a mind oppressed 
by sin, is a much greater malady, and may have most dangerous 
consequences, in a wholly marvellous religion which we must love. 
These marvels are displeasing in pious narratives, where they are 
fully proved, and they are sought for in theatrical compositions, 
where they are mere fictions : the distinction is dishonorable to 
Christians. Finally, as to the falsehood : What risk does the pious 
multitude run, in believing the miracles of the Lives of the Saints } 
They find nothing in them which is not proved, or worthy of 
belief ; nothing but what may very prudendy be believed ; nothing 
but what is edifying ; and this, according to St. Augustine, "{* is a 
sufficient guarantee from falling into any dangerous credulity. 

We should be very dangerously credulous, if we put our faith in 
false and deceitful miracles, which only tend to seduce the mind, 
and corrupt our belief We are warned in the Gospel, that ^' there 
shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great 
signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if it be possible) even 
the elect; "{ and St. Paul teaches us that Antichrist, "that man 
of perdition, will come according to the working of Satan, in all 
power, and signs, and lying wonders." § The father of lies has 

* M. de la Fontaine. t S. Aug. de Utilit. Cred., cap. ii, No. 25. 

X Matt, xxiv., 24. J 2 liiessal. ii., 7. 



2 2 FKKhACl. 

often inspired the heretics tq produce miracles, which they have 
asserted to have been performed by persons of their party. Hving 
or dead, from whence they inferred that God authorized the doc- 
trines they taught. Ecclesiastical history furnishes many examples 
of this, and there are some very recent ones. 

But Jesus Christ has furnished us with a sure and infallible rule 
to avoid the contagion : it is to hear the Church ; * it is to con- 
sider those only as true miracles of which she approves, and of 
which she sanctions the publication ; it is to believe firmly that 
no one who is in revolt against the Church will ever perform a 
miracle favorable to his sect, whatever appearance of austerity, 
piety, charity, or sanctity, he may put on ; which St. Thomas bases f 
mainly on this principle : that it is impossible that God, who alone 
can give the power of w^orking a true miracle, shall ever com- 
municate that power to confirm a false doctrine ; from whence 
it follows, that all the miracles produced by sectarians, notwith- 
standing all their evidence, and all their pretended attestations, 
must neither be examined nor listened to, and must only be 
looked upon as purely natural effects, or as impostures, or as 
delusions and diabolical operations. This is the way in which St. 
Augustine J expresses himself on the subject of the miracles which 
the Donatists claimed to have performed, and claimed as evidence 
in favor of their schism. Let Catholics, therefore, reject with horror 
the false prodigies of sectarians, but let them piously give credit 
to the miracles of the saints, without paying attendon to the ultra- 
criticism which strives to throw doubts upon them ; and let them 
be intimately persuaded that the Church, which approves of them, 
has founded that approval on evidence irreproachable. 

The marvels which are found in the Life of St. Francis are 
perfectly well attested. § That Life was first written by Thomas de 
Celano, one of his companions, who was directed by Pope Gre- 
gory IX. to compile it, and who afterwards added a second part 
on additional memoirs. || John, or Thomas de Ceperano, Apo- 
stolic Notary, who was a staunch friend of the saint, published at 
the same time what he knew of his actions. Crescentius de Jesi, 
General of the Order of the Friars Minors, gave directions, by 
circular letters, to collect and transmit to him whatever had been 
seen or learnt, relative to the sanctity and miracles of the blessed 
father. He addressed himself particularly to three of his twelve 
first companions : Leo, his secretary and his confessor ; Angelus 
and Rufinus : all three joined in compiling what is called "The 

* Matt, xviii., 17; Luke x., 16. 

+ I Part.quaest. no, art. 4 et 2, quaest. 178, Acts ii., iii. 
t S. Aug. de Unit. EccL, c. 19, n. 49, and Tract. 13 in Joan., n. 17. 
§ Wading, Annal. Min. ad ann. 1230, n. 7, ad ann. 1244^ n. 8, 9, and 10. 
ii His first work was called "The Legend of Gregory IX.," and the 
second, '*The Ancient Legend " 



PREFACE. 23 

Legend of the Three Companions." The others noted separately 
what they had themselves seen, and the things which they had 
learnt from others. Saint Bonaventura, being at the head of the 
Order, was urgently entreated, by the general chapter, to write the 
life of their holy patriarch. . With the intention of learning, with 
certainty, the truth of the facts, he went expressly to Assisium. 
*^ There," he says, in the preface to his work, *'I had frequent 
and serious conferences with those who had been in the confidence 
of the great man, and who were still living ; and principally with 
those who were most intimately consociated with him, and who 
have become the most faithful imitators of his holy life, to whose 
testimony we must undoubtedly give credit, because their acknow- 
ledged sanctity assures us that they have spoken truth." Now, what 
can the most exact and severe criticism wish more, in order to 
give warranty to the marvels in the Life of St. Francis, than con- 
temporaries, ocular witnesses, holy persons, his own companions, 
who lived with him and enjoyed his confidence ? 

The legend of Saint Bonaventura was spread everywhere, as 
soon as it appeared, and was everywhere highly approved ; there 
are many manuscripts of it. Lipoman, Bishop of Verona, caused 
it to be printed in 1556. No one ever attempted to call its 
accuracy in question.* Octavian quoted it, in his petition to 
Pope Sixtus IV. for the canonization of the holy doctor, in 1482. f 

The first legends have been preserved in manuscript ; the cele- 
brated annalist of the Order of Friars Minors, Luke Wading, saw 
them and made use of them. He was one of the most learned 
men of his time, J and all other learned men have been loud 
in his praise, § not only on account of his profound erudition, 
but because he was so ardent a lover of truth, which he sought for 
with great care, and having developed it, nothing could hinder 
him from publishing it and committing it to writing. 

The uprightness of his heart was conspicuous on a certain 
occasion, which is too honorable to him for us to pass it over in 
silence. He had been one of the examiners nominated by Pope 

* No one but M. Dupin could have added at the end of the catalogue of 
the works of St. Bonaventura: **They also attribute to him the Life of St, 
Francis, noticed by Surius, October 4th." This expression is only used as 
to doubtful works. Did he not know that no writer, either Catholic or 
Protestant, ever called in question the Life of St. Francis written by St. 
Bonaventura? Or did he wish to cause it to be called in question ? 

t Octav. Orat. ^ ii, apud Sedul. Histor. Script. 

t He lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when erudition and 
criticism were in their prime. 

§ Francis Harold, who made an abridgment of his Annals in two volumes, 
printed at Rome, in 1762, wrote his Life at the head of the first, with the 
commendations which had been given him by Rayiiald, Manrique, Leo 
Allatius, Sponde, d'Artichy, and several other great men of the seventeenth 
century. 



24 . PREFACE. 

Innocent X. to inquire into the writings of Jansenius, Bishop of 
Ypres, and he had con^•inced himself that the five propositions 
which appeared to be censurable in those writings, might be 
tolerably explained in a certain theological sense. Those who 
are themselves upright are not easily brought to think ill of 
others, particularly in difficult affaiis, and they sometimes endeavor 
to justify them, through charitable feelings, which are praise- 
worthy in principle, but which may have e\ii consequences, when 
a doctrine is in question which has been widely spread, and which 
is supported by a cabaL Wading, seeing that the five propositions 
were censured by various constitutions of the Pope, made a report * 
on the whole affair, with the following beautifiil declaration, worthy 
of a truly Catholic doctor': " If, before this dedsicm, any one shall 
have been of a different opinion (as to the fi\-e propositions) on 
whatever reasonings, or whatsoever authority of doctrine, he is 
now obliged to bend his mind to the yoke of ^ith, according to 
the ad\ice of the apostie. I declare it" to be what I do with all my 
heart, condemning and anathematizing all the aforesaid proposi- 
tions, in all and every sense in which His Holiness has proposed 
to condemn them, aldiough, before this decision, I thought they 
might have been maintained in a certain sense, in the marmer I 
have explained in the suffrage which has been just seen." 

We may feel a^ured that a man of this upright character, such 
a lover of truth, and, moreover, one of such eminent talents, would 
not have made use of the two legends of Thomas de Celano and 
that of the Three Companions, without having ascertained their 
correctness. Moreover, the critics of his time, who were particular, 
and in great numbers, had it in their power to examine them as 
those of our times have, also, since they are still extant in the con- 
vent of Sl Isidore at Rome. 

The first, which was composed under the Pontificate of Gregory 
EX., was quoted by Luke,f Bishop of Tuy, when he wrote against 
the Albigenses, in 123 1. It is to be found in the Abbey of Long- 
pont,J of the Order of Citeaux, in the diocese of Soissons, and in 
the Abbey of Jouy, of the same Order, in the diocese of Sens. 
The legend of the Three Companions is in the king s library, at 
the Recollets of Lou\^in. § and in their convent at Malines. 

* *-' See Defense de I'Eglise contre Lejddecher," by P^re Qaesnel, seoood 
edition, p. 427. "L'Histoire des Gnq Propositions," by the Abbe du Mas, 
torn. I, lib. I, pc 79, ofihe edition of Trevoux, 1702. The Abbe de Tonmely, 
torn, r, De Gratia, quaest. 3, epoch. 2, p. 382- 

t Luc Tnd. adv. Albig., Hb. 2, cap. 11. 

i Donu Martene, a Benedictine, notices it in his Voyage Iitt6raiie, p. 74. 

$ Sniius speaiks of this legend, at the end of the life of St. Frands, as 
of a work whidi was before him, and which he did not give to the public, 
lest he should be too Yolominons. Cardinal Baronins, in his notes on the 
MarivTology, October 4th, says that the companions of St. Frands. sudi as 



PREFACE. 25 

These are the principal sources which were consulted by Wading 
for writing the Life of St. Francis, which forms part of the first 
tome of his Annals. He also consulted the acts and public 
monuments, the constant tradition, and some manuscripts of the 
thirteenth century, which contain other testimonials from the 
companions of St. Francis, and were published by contemporaries 
who lived with them, who collected their very words, and who are 
worthy of credence. But the most marvellous thing which he 
relates, relative to the actions of the saint, he has taken from the 
legends, as well as a great number of the splendid miracles which 
were operated by his intercession after his death, and of which 
Pope Gregory IX. was fully informed, as he declares in the Bull 
of Canonization. 

All modern authors who have given the Life of St. Francis in 
various languages, have adhered solely to Wading; in this work, 
also, we have made a point of following him ; and the learned, 
who have so much esteem for that great man, will agree that we 
could not have taken a better guide. Baillet admits that, among 
the writers of the Life of St. Francis, Luke Wading is one of the 
most careful and most accurate ; and yet he taxes him with 
not having written methodically, when he adds: ''After all the 
labors of so many persons, who have been zealous for his glory, 
we are still compelled to wish for a methodical history of his life.'' 
Whoever may read the Annals of Wading, and his notes on the 
works of St. Francis, will find in them as much method as research 
and accuracy ; but, according to some ultra-critics, it is not con- 
sidered writing methodically, when marvels which they dislike are 
permitted to find their way into history. 

Baillet might have said that it has been long a subject of com- 
plaint that we have not in our language a complete and meth- 
odical Life of St. Francis. This complaint* i^; the more just, as 
the saint had a particular liking for France ; he had learned the 
language with so much facility, and spoke it so readily, that they 
gave him the name of Francis, although he was baptized John, 
Paris was one of the first objects of his zeal ; he would even have 
gone thither, if a cardinal had not detained him in Italy for 
reasons which related to his Order. Not having it in his power 

Leo, Angelus, and Ruffinus, have left many particulariiies in wiidng, besides 
what are in the Life written by St. Bonaventura. 

Dom. Martene had the letter printed from the MS. which the Three Com- 
panions had addressed tc the general of the Order, when they sent him their 
legend; it is similar to what Wading has given: Veter. Script., torn. I, p. 
1298, ex M. S. Canonic. Regular. Agonios Chrisii Tungrensiuni. 

'* Those which iiave been heretofore published, are seldom met w ith ; lhe\ 
are full of piety, but it must be admitted that they are neither methodical noi 
complete, and they would not no\v^ be received as thev prol.iably were in 
former times. 



26 PREFACE. 

to undertake this mission, which he had much at heart, he des- 
tined for it some of his principal followers. 

It has been our study not to omit anything here which bears 
upon the subject, and to arrange everything methodically. The 
work is divided into six books,* in which are related, in chrono- 
logical order, the actions, words, and instructions of St. Francis, the 
establishment of his three institutes, and, generally, all the facts 
relating to them, from his conversion to his death. Those things 
which had no particular date, or which required some particular 
discussion, or which were to be defended in reply to some ill-judged 
criticism, have been treated of, in the fifth book, between his 
death and his canonization ; after which, what can be said as to 
the situation of his body is brought forward, and the state of his 
three Orders is given. The singular favor of the Stigmata, that 
is to the say, impressions of the wounds of Jesus Christ upon the 
body of St. Francis, and the plenary indulgence which he obtained 
from our Saviour, by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, for the 
chapel of the Portiuncula, or Saint j\Iar}' of the Angels, are noticed 
in the course of his Life, in all their details ; it was, however, 
necessary to write a particular history of the Stigmata, and to give 
some elucidations as to the indulgence, to vindicate the truth c>f 
these facts against heretics and ultra-critics who have dared to 
attack them. 

Some of the wise of the world would have wished that, in order 
to meet the prejudices of those who dislike the marvellous, some 
part at least of them should have been suppressed in this Life of 
St. Francis ; but, having clearly shown that these prejudices are un- 
reasonable and dangerous, ii would not have been proper to have 
paid attention to them ; besides which, the Life of the venerable 
patriarch is chiefly wTitten for his children, and for persons cf 
piety, who would not have tolerated such a curtailment. 

l^here are some who affect to think that, in the Lives of the 
Saints, their example should alone be proposed to the public, im- 
agining that the miracles they have performed can nowise contribute 
to the edification of souls ; and two authors f of this century have 
ventured to suppress all miracles in the Lives of Saints which they 
have published. The Church, nevertheless, causes them to be 

* The present volume contains three of these books. — Oratorian Editor. 

t In the beginning of this century, M. Echard de Commanville published 
a Nouvelle Vie des Saints, in which he only admitted miracles recorded i)i 
Scripture. See on this subject the '' Memoirs de Tervoux," May and June; 
1 701, p. 64, et seq. An anonymous writer has also omitted the miracles, on 
pretence of not increasing the size of the volume, in the Lives of the Saints 
for every day in the year, etc., printed in 1722, by W. Despreg and J. Deses- 
sarts, but he has found sufficient room for introducing many pernicious things, 
in points of doctrine, as we may perceive from the work itself, or by faithful 
extracts in the '^M6moirs de Trevoux,'* Oct. 5th, 1722, Art. 107. 



PREFACE. 27 

recited in the Divine Office, and they are carefully related by the 
holy fathers ; neither does any author of repute, of the centuries 
preceding, fail to bring them forward. In fact, no one can deny 
that they add great resplendency to the merits of the saints, and, 
consequently, give great weight to the exaraple they afford us. 
They tiphold and increase the idea we have of the power of God, 
of Hi^ providence, His justice, His bounty, and His mercy, by 
which they excite us to glorify, love, and serve Him ; and, in show- 
ing His special good-will to His servants, they induce us to invoke 
their mediation with confidence. Moreover, miracles strengthen 
the faithful in their faith, because, being performed in the bosom 
of the Catholic Church, they confirm the truth she teaches. Now, 
it is not of less consequence to strengthen faith, than to propose 
that which tends to the correction of morals, particularly when 
incredulity makes as much progress as licentiousness. Moreovei; 
the miraculous actions of the saints frequently contain most salu- 
tSLvy instructions, and are always accompanied by virtues which 
may be imitated, which will be very apparent in the Life of St. 
Francis. 

Some may, perhaps, think that his virtues are too transcendent 
for imitation, and content themselves with admiring them, without 
gathering any fruit from them. A celebrated heresiarch admired 
them in this manner, in the last century. Bossuet remarks, in 
his excellent " History of the Variations," * that '* Luther reckoned 
among the saints not only St. Bernard, but also St. Francis, St. 
Bonaventura, and others of the thirteenth century ; and that St. 
Francis, amongst all the rest, appeared to him to be an admirable 
character, animated with wonderful fervor ol mind.'* But the faithful 
in admiring his virtues, must not think them not to be imitated, 
for they consisted in following the Gospel ; and they are all obliged 
to live according to the precepts of the Gospel. 

Candide Chalipfe, RecolkL 



' Histoire dcs Voriaiions," toni. i, liv. 3, n. 50. 



Ill 



CONTENTS. 



LIFE OF S. FRANCIS. 

LOOK I. 

PAGE. 

His birth — Prediction of his future greatness — His studies — He applies 
himself to commerce — His purity, and affection for the poor — He is 
taken prisoner — He falls sick — His charity increases towards 
the poor — He has a mysterious dream — He wishes to go to the 
war — Jesus Christ dissuades him — He is rapt in spirit — His con- 
version — He kisses a leper — Jesus Christ crucified appears to him — 
* Salutary effects of this apparition — He goes to Rome — Mingles with 
the poor — Is tempted by the devil — A voice from heaven commands 
him to restore the Church of S. Peter Damian — His devotion to the 
passion of Jesus Christ — He takes some pieces of cloth from his 
father's house, and sells them^ to restore the Church of S. Damian — 
He escapes from the anger of his father, and retires to a cave — 
He appears in Assisi, where he is ill-treated- -His father confines 
him — His mother delivers him, and he returns to S. Daminn — He 
manifests his intention to his father, who appeals to justice, and 
cites him before the Bishop of Assisi — He renounces his inheritance, 
and gives back his clothes to his father — The poverty of his cloth- 
ing — He is beaten by robbers — Retires to a monastery —They give 
him a hermit's habit — He devotes himself to the leprous — Receives 
the gift of healing, and returns to Assisi, where he searches for stone 
to restore the Church of Assisi — He toils at building as a laborer — 
He lives on alms — His father and brother exercise his patience — The 
victories he gains over himself — People begin to esteem and honor 
him — He predicts something which is fullfilled — He restores the 
Church of S. Peter and that of S. Mary of the Angels, or the Por- 
tiuncula — Dwells at S. Mary of the Angels, and is favored there 
with heavenly apparitions — He is called to the apostolical life — Re- 
nounces money, and goes discalced — His poor and humble habit — 
God inspires him to preach — He weeps bitterly over the sufferings 
of Jesus Christ — Receives three disciples, and retires with them to a 
deserted cottage — He goes on amission, and his disciples accompany 
him — The way they are treated — He receives three other dis- 
ciples — He makes them beg for alms — What he said to the Bishop of 
Assisi, on renouncing all his possessions— He predicts to the Em- 
peror Otho the short duration of his glory — It is revealed to him 
that his sins arc remitted — He is rapt in ecstasy, and predicts tho 



30 CONTENTS. 

PACK. 

extension of his Order — He makes several other predictions, and re- 
ceives a seventh disciple — He proposes a new mission to them — 
The address he makes them on their preparation for, and conduct 
during, the mission — He returns near to Assisi, where he receives 
four more disciples — He assembles all his disciples — Composes a 
Rule, and goes to obtain the Pope's approval — He makes a marvellous 
conversion— He knows miraculously what will happen to him at 
Rome — He is at first repulsed by Pope Innocent HI., but is after- 
wards received favorably — Difficulties on the approbation of his 
Rule — He overcomes them by an address he makes the Pope — The 
Pope approves his Rule, and accumulates favors on it — He lerives 
Rome with his friars for the valley of Spoleto — God provides for 
his necessities — He stops at a deserted church — Consults God on his 
mission, and returns to the cottage of Rivo-torto — His sufferings 
there — The instructions he gives — God shows him to his brethren 
under a most marvellous aspect — The church of S. Mary of the 
Angels is given to him — He establishes himself there, with his 
Friars 37 



He receives many novices — Instructs and models them — Sends them 
to different provinces of Italy — What he says on this occasion — He 
departs for Tuscany, and passes by Perugia, where he makes a pre- 
diction which is accomplished — Many young men enter his Order — 
They build a house for him near Cortona — His miraculous fast dur- 
ing Lent — He commands the de^-ils, and they obey him — He cures 
many miraculously — He preaches at Florence — Makes a prediction — 
Preaches in various places in Tuscany — What his friars are doing 
in other places — He preaches the Lent at Assisi, with great fruit — 
He consecrates, to Jesus Christ, Clare, and Agnes, her sister — Estab- 
Ushes Clare and Agnes in the Church of S. Damian — He erects a 
monastery there, the first one of his second Order, which he then 
instituted — He is troubled by a serious doubt, on which he consults 
his brethren — His doubt is cleared up by an oracle from heaven — 
He goes out to preach — Restores a blind girl to sight, and converts 
many worldly people — He sighs for martyrdom — Asks permission of 
the Pope to preach to the infidels — Makes conversions at Rome, and 
establishes his Order there — Returns to Assisi, and leaves for the 
Levant — Embarks, but is obhged to put into a harbor in Sclavonia 
— Goes by sea to Ancona — A miracle which God performs in his 
favor — He converts a celebrated poet — Returns to Tuscany, and to 
S. Mary of the Angels — He falls sick — Wonderfully humbles him- 
self^Tries a vocation — Falls sick again, and writes to all Christians 
— Writes a second letter to them — Departs for Spain and Africa, in 
search of martyrdom — His miracles, and other particulars of his 



CONTENTS. 5 J 

PAQU 

journey— His profound humility — He raises the dead — Count Or- 
lando gives him Mount Alverna — God miraculously protects him — 
He preaches in Piedmont, and passes into Spain — Works a mira- 
culous cure there — The king, Alphonso IX, permits him to establish 
his Order there — He receives houses there — A violent sickness pre- 
vents him going to Morocco — His actions whilst he is delayed in 
Spain — He returns to Italy — His route thither — He arrives at S. 
Mary of the Angels, and disapproves a building there — He goes to 
Mount Alverna — Is beaten by devils — Mortifies his sense^and taste 
■ — Makes water spring from a rock — Visits the mountain — Converts 
there a celebrated brigand — Leaves for Rome — Discovers some relic? 
by revelation — Makes predictions, and performs miracles and con- 
versions — Arrives at Rome whilst the Council of Lateran is sitting — 
The Pope declares to the Council that he has approved the Rule — 
He appoints a general chapter at S. Mary of the Angels, whither he 
returns — He holds the chapter, and sends his friars to various 
countries — He thinks of going to Paris — Reunites an illustrious 
family that had been divided — Rejoices in his poverty, and asks of 
God a greater love of holy poverty — SS. Peter and Paul appear to 
him at Rome — rlis alliance with wS. Dominic — He goes to Florence, 
where Cardinal Hugolin dissuades him from going to Paris — He 
returns to the Valley of Spoleto, and sends three of his disciples to 
France — A celestial vision induces him to ask of the Pope a 
cardinal protector for his Order — What he says on this subject — 
He preaches before the Pope — What happened to him in the pulpit — 
The Pope gives him Cardnial Hugolin. as protector of the Order — 
He preaches in the Valley of Rieti — Delivers the country from two 
plagues, and makes some conversions there — The houses he builds 
there — Fle appoints a general chapter at S. Mary of the Angels, for 
he year 1219 — What he did during the year 1218 — Efficacy of his 
prayers — He wishes to pull down a new house which he found at 
S. Mary of the Angels - 85 

BOOK III. 

He goes to Perugia, to consult the cardinal protector — His opinion on 
the promotion of his friars to ecclesiastical dignities — He returns 
to S. Mary of the Angels — His thoughts on these dignities*— More 
than five thousand P'riars Minors are present at the chapter he had 
appointed — He addresses the assembly, and forbids them troubling 
themselves about their food — Assistance comes to him from all 
sides — He receives more than five hundred novices during this 
chapter — He forbids indiscreet mortifications — The devils are 
incensed against him and his Order — He cautions his friars, and 
ui:)on that gives them some instructions— He humbles them lo pre- 
serve tlicm from vainglory — He confounds those who wish the Rule 



3 2 CONTENTS. 

PAQA 

mitigated— He wishes not for privileges which can engender dis- 
putes —He gives his friars instructions about their conduct to ecclesi- 
astics — He obtains from the Pope letters apostolical, confirming the 
approval of the Order — What he decrees in the chapter — He sends 
his friars through the whole world — He writes to all the ecclesi- 
astics in the world — And to ail the temporal magistrates in the 
world — And to all the superiors of his Order — The travels of his 
Friars in various parts of the world — In Greece — In Africa — In 
Spain and Portugal — In France — In the Low Countries — He him- 
self prepares to go to the Levant — His opinions on the government 
of the monastery of S. Damian, and other houses of the same 
Order — He sends six of his friars to Morocco — What he says to 
them — He starts on his voyage to Syria, with twelve companions — 
He rejects a postulant too much attached to his parents — A house at 
Anconais given to him — He appoints, by means of a child inspired 
by God, those who are to accompany him to Syria — He embarks at 
Ancona, and anchors at the isle of Cyprus — Arrives at Aci e — Distri- 
butes his companions in different parts of Syria, and comes to the 
army before Damietta — He arrives at the camp before Damietta, and 
predicts the ill-success of the battle the Crusaders are about to give — 
His prediction is accomplished — He finds out the Sultan of Egypt — 
Announces to him the truths of the faith, and offers to throw himself 
into the fire to prove them — He refuses the Sultan's presents — Is 
esteemed and respected — The good dispositions with which he 
inspires the Sultan — He obtains permission to preach in his States — 
He confounds an immodest woman by throwing himself on burning 
charcoal — He receives some disciples from the army of the Crusad- 
ers — Visits the holy places — Some whole monasteries of religious 
embrace his Institute — He returns to Italy — Establishes his Order 
in various places — Preaches at Bologna with great success — What 
he says and does on seeing a house of his Order too much orna- 
mented — He makes a retreat at Camaldoli — Returns to S. Mary of 
the Angels — Reads the thoughts of his companion — Confounds the 
vanity of Brother Elias — Abolishes the novelties introduced into the 
Order by Brother Elias — In a vision the fortunes of his Order are made 
known to him — He holds the chapter, in which he deposes Brother 
Elias, and in his place substitutes Peter of Catania — He renounce 
the generalship — Will not receive anything from novices enterin^ 
his Order — He learns the news of the martyrdom of the friars h- 
had sent to Morocco — What he says on the subject oi" their martyr 
dom — The martyrdom of these friars is the cause of the vocation o» 
S. Antony of Padua — His friars pass into England — He visits som 
convents — Writes to the Vicar-General — Receives his resignatioiu; 
and re-appoints, by the command of God, Brother Elias to his place 
- — He holds a chopter, and sends missionaries to Germany - - 153 



CONTENTS. 



33 



S. Francis begins his third Order of Penance — Draws up the rule for 
it^-What his idea was in founding this Order — He returns to S. 
Mary of the x\ngels — Sends Agnes, the sister of Clare, to Florence, 
to be Abbess there — He obtains from Jesus Christ the Indulgence 
of S. Mary of the Angels, or of- the Portiuncula — Pope Honorius 
III. grants him the same indulgence — Clare and others, hearing him 
talk of God, are ravished in ecstasy — He cannot bear the distinction 
of persons which Brother Elias made — Makes a terrible predic- 
tion — He gives his blessings to seven of his brethren, to go and 
preach the faith to the Moors, and they are martyred — He makes a 
journey, which is attended with remarkable circumstances — Cures 
a cripple — Mixes with the poor, and eats with them — Foretells of 
an infant, that he would one day be Pope — He changes the bed of 
thorns into which S. Benedict had thrown himself, into a rose-bush, 
and performs other great miracles — Goes to honor the relics of S. 
Andrew, and those of S. Nicholas — He stands upon red-hot coals 
to confound a bad woman — Discovers a trick of the devil — He visits 
Mount Garganus — His presence silences a demoniac — He learns at 
S. Mary of the Angels the success of the German mission — Bids 
Antony preach — Gives Antony permission to teach theology to the 
brethren — Alexander Hales enters the Order — Jesus Christ appoints 
the day for the Indulgence of the Portiuncula — He obtains from the 
Pope a confirmation of the same day — Promulgates it, with seven 
bishops — He has a revelation about his Rule — God makes known to 
him that he must abridge it — The Holy Spirit dictates it to him — 
Some entreat him to moderate it — Jesus Christ tells him it must be 
kept to the very letter — His brethren receive it — What it contains — 
He declares it comes from Jesus Christ, and speaks in praise of 
it — He obtains a Bull from the Pope, in confirmation of the Rule — 
Is attacked by devils — Celebrates the feast of Christmas with much 
fervor — Our Lord appears to him as an infant — His sentiments on 
the celebration of feasts — Discovers a stratagem of the devil — His 
prophecy to Bologna — He commands one of his dead brethren to 
cease working miracles — Draws up a rule for Clare and her daugh- 
ters — Summary of this rule — He sends his cloak to St. Elizabeth — 
Appears with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross, while 
S. Antony was preaching — Foretells a conversion, which immedi- 
ately came about — He goes into retreat on Mount Alvernus — His 
contemplation and raptures — Jesus Christ promises him special 
favors — He fasts rigorously — A piece of his writing delivers his 
companion from a temptation — What he had to suffer from the 
devil — He prepares for martyrdom — He receives extraordinary 
favors in prayer — His perfect conformity to the will of God Jesus 
Christ crucified appears to him under the figure of a Scrapliim — 



34 . CONTENTS. 

PA OK. 

Eeceives the impression of the wounds of Jesus Christ — He composes 
canticles full of the love of God — Tells his brethren of the Stig- 
mata — They are seen and touched — He leaves Mount Alvernus, to 
return to S. Mary of the Angels — Cures a child of dropsy — Other 
miracles which he performed on the way — He strengthens himself 
with new fervor in the service of God — His patience in great 
sufferings — His desires for the salvation of souls — His prayer in 
suffering — God assures him of his salvation — He thanks Him in a 
canticle — Makes peace between the bishop and magistrates of Assisi 
^He learns the time of his death, and rejoices at it — Gives himself 
a severe penance — He has various illnesses, and suffers extreme 
pain — He multiplies the grarpes in a vineyard— God gives him 
sensible consolation — A heated iron is applied to the temple, and 
he feels no pain from it — He weeps incessantly, asid says he does 
so to expiate for his sins— He prefers the danger of losing his sight to 
restraining his tears — His gratitude towards his physician — A miracle 
is worked by some of his hair, in favor of this physician — He mira- 
culously heals a canon — His sufferings diminish — Goes to preach 
— Drives away a devil — Foretells a sudden death, and it comes about 
— Cures St. Bonaventura in his infancy — All his sufferings increase 
— Causes to be found for the love of God what could not be found 
for money — They take him back to Assi:.i — They take him to Sienna 
— He answers difficult questions, and foretells several things — He 
causes the blessing which he gave to his brethren to be written out 
— And also a letter, which he addressed to the whole Order — They 
take him to Celles, and thence to Assisi — The bishop has him taken 
to his palace — The state of his Order at the time of his last illness. 235 

BOOK V. 

The violence of his illness does not prevent him from exhorting his 
brethren — He is touched at the fatigue which his illness caused 
them — Thanks God for the pains he suffered — Dictates a letter to 
Clare and her daughters — Rejoices and thanks God for his approach- 
ing death — Blesses his children — Has himself carried to S. Mary of 
the Angels — Blesses the town of Assisi — Informs a pious widow of 
his approaching death — Blesses his brethren a second time, and 
makes them eat a bit of bread, biessedby his hand — Gives a special 
blessing to Bernard, the eldest of his children — What we may pre- 
sume were his dispositions in receiving the last sacraments — He 
stretches himself naked on the bare ground — Desires to be buried 
in the Place of Execution — Exhorts his brethren, and makes his 
will — He has the praises of God sung when at the point of death — 
He speaks to his children, and blesses them for the last time — Has 
the passion of Jesus Christ read to him — He recites the 141st psalm, 
and dies after the last verse — Miraculous proofs of his beatitude — 



CONTENTS. 3 5 



rxaic 



State of his body after death — The Stigmata are seen and touched 
pubHcly — His obsequies — Clare and her daughters see and kiss the 
Stigmata— rHe is buried at Assisi^ in the church of S. George — The 
circular written after his death — Devotion of S. Francis towards 
Jesus Christ crucified — To what a degree he loved poverty — How 
great was the austerity of his life — His watchfulness in the custody 
of his senses to resist temptations — His humility — His obedience — 
His gift of prayer and contemplation — His love of God — His senti- 
ments of filial love on the mystery of the Incarnation — On the fast of 
Jesus Christ in the desert — On the myst ry of the Eucharist — S. 
Francis, in his humility, would not be made priest — The vision he had 
on this subject — ffis devotion towards the Mother of God— Towards 
the angels and saints — His charity towards his neighbor — His zeal 
for the salvation of souls — His affection for the poor — The affection 
of his heart for all creatures — The pains he took to lead his breth- 
en to perfection— His tender charity towards his brethren — 'His 
discretion and wisdom in the government of the Order — His 
opinion on the necessary qualities of the general and provincial of 
the Order — His writing — His supernatural and acquired knowledge 
—His style — The efficacy of his words — His supernatural and 
miraculous gifts — He drives away devils — Brings the dead to life — 
Heals the sick — Has the gift of prophecy and discernment of spirits 
—He commands animals, and is obeyed — He performs many other 
miraculous actions — I'he great honors which were paid to him — 
His character and appearance — In what sense he was simple 341 



THE LIFE 



OF 



SAINT FI^A,NGIS OF ASSISL 



BOOK I. 



offer, to the pious reflections of the faithful, the life 
of a nic. ^ who proposed to himself to practise literally the precepts 
of the Gospel, and to conform entirely to Jesus Christ crucified, 
and to inspire the whole world with His love ; who became a 
singular model of penance, whom God favored with the most 
precious gifts of His grace, whom He honored with favors until then 
unheard of, whom he constituted the Head of an Apostolical 
Order, founded solely on His Providence, and which was wonder- 
fully spread for the services of His Church. 

Such a purpose must seem great to all those who can appreciate 
true grandeur by the light of religion. In its contempt of the 
goods of the world, it manifests an elevation of mind far above the 
ostentation of the ancient philosophers ; in its deep humiliations, 
an heroical courage ; in its extreme simplicity, the most exalted 
sentiments ; in its weakness, and in the apparent foolishness of 
the cross, the strength and wisdom of God. The infidels them- 
selves admired all this, and it will be not less meet to revive the 
fervor of Christians, and to increase the veneration they have always 
entertained for St. Francis. 

He was born at Assisi, a town of Umbria, in Italy, in the year 
1 182, under the Pontificate of Lucius HI. Peter Bernardo,* his 

* Ottavio, Bishop of Assisi, snys in a book entitled, *'Liimi Serafici di 
Portiuncula," printed at Venice, 1 701, pp. 6 and 7, that when he was preaching 
during Lent in the cathedral church ojf Lucca, in Tuscany, in the year 1689, 
a canon named Morican, showed him an old memorial, in which he read 
these words : "There were at Lucca two l)rothcrs, merchants, named Morican. 
The one remained in his own country, the other, called Bernard, established 
himself at Assisi, where he was called Bernardon. He u\arried and had a 



38 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

fatliej, ^vas a rich merchant, ^vhose principal commercial trans- 
actions were with France. His mother, whose name was Pica, 
had only two sons, Francis and Angelo. The latter married at 
Assisi, and some of his descendants were still at Assisi in 1534. 

God, who has often condescended to usher in His Saints by 
portents, was pleased, at the birth of Francis, to give signs of what 
he would be during his life. For some days Pica had suffered 
great pains, without her confinement having been the result ; 
when a man, dressed as a pilgrim, came to tell her that she would 
only be delivered of her infant in a stable, who would be born on 
straw. Although this communication appeared most strange, 
they, nevertheless, acted upon it. The patient was removed to the 
nearest stable, where she was successfully delivered ; an event 
which may well be looked upon, as in the intention of Providence, 
thereby to mark the conformity of the holy nian to Jesus Christ, 
poor and humble ; as much, at least, as the creature can be in 
conformity with the Creator, and the servant with the ]\Iaster of 
the universe. 

This stable has been turned into a chapel, called in Italian, 
*'Sa?i Francesco il piccolo "' — " St. Francis the little." There is over 
the door the following Latin inscription, in ver}^ old writing : 

" Hoc Oratorium fiiit Bovis et Asini stabulum, 
In quo natus est Franciscus, mundi speculum: " 
*'This cliapel was the stable of the Ox and the Ass, 
"Where Francis was born, the mirror of the world." 

His mothei had the name of John given to him at his baptism, 
his father being then absent in France. A stranger presented 
himself as his godfather, and he was accepted as such ; whether 
it was that something extraordinar}^ was perceived in this person, 
or that they had been struck with astonishment at the first event. 
The uniform tradition at Assisi is, that this stranger disappeared 
aftc^r the ceremony, and that he left the impression of his knees 
on a marble step of the altar, which is shown in the cathedral 
church, with the baptismal font, on which these words in Italian 
arc engiaved : — ''Questi e il Fonte, dove fu battezzatto il Serafico 
Padre San Francesco/'' 



so.i called I'eter ; wJio, being already wealthy, married a girl called Pica of 
a noble family. St. Francis, who was their son, called himself out of humility, 
son of Peter l>ernardon ; not choosing to take his family name, which was 
Moiican." 

It is piobably of this origin that Thomas Washington, a Benedictine, said 
that Francis was a Tuscan; which is also noticed in an old Flemish 
chroiiich\ 

'JlHi lUshop of Assisi adds, that the branch of the Morican family, which re- 
mained at Lucca, was there in his time, and was in the number of its nobles. 



S. FRANCIS OF xVSSISI. 39 

At the return from the baptismal ceremony, a man, who seemed 
to have been sent by God, as well as the other two, or rather an 
angel in human form, came to beg that he might be allowed to 
see the child and hold it He took it in his arms, caressed it a 
good deal, and impressed upon its right shoulder a well-formed 
cross, as a mark of his consecration, recommending the nurse to 
take particular care of the child, not to expose him to the snares 
of the devils, who had a foresight that he would one day wage a 
severe war against them. One of these evil spirits was obliged 
to confess by the mouth of one possessed, whom they were 
exorcising, that the prmces of darkness, alarmed at the birth of 
P>ancis, had tried various ways to take away his life ; and it was 
the Saint himself who expelled this devil afterwards. These 
portents,"^ marvellous as they are, are less surprising, when we 
consider the singular and marked favors which heaven destined 
for him. 

His parents brought him up with great care, and he was put to 
study with the clergy of the Parish of St. George. After he 
had acquired some knowledge of letters, he was initiated in 
commercial affairs, the correspondence of which necessitated his 
learning the French language ; he acquired it with so much ease, 
that his father gave him the name of Francis, a name which he 
boref ever after. 

Bernardo and Francis pursued their avocation in a very differ- 
ent manner. The first, with no other object than his worldly 
interest, thought of nothing but his profits, and had no other care 
than that of accumulating. Francis, who had not a particle of 
avarice, and had less thought of his profit than of dealing with 
honor, traded with nobler and more elevated feelings. But he 
loved the world, he frequented society, and spent a good deal in 
dress, festivities, and parties of pleasure. His father frequently 
reprimanded him on the subject of his expenses, but his remon- 
strances had little effect, because he had no consideration of the 
value of money, and he wished to be distinguished amongst his 
young companions, who always considered him as their leader. 

* Prophecies of the celebrated Abbot Joachim are also noticed, relative 
to St. Francis, St. Dominic and their orders, made long before the birth of 
either. They are admitted as authentic by the learned Jesuits of Antwerp, 
the continuators of the Acts of the Saints of BoUandus. But they assign 
reasons for not beheving that this Abbot placed portraits of the two Saints 
in the church of St. Mark at Venice, as some writers assert. Act. SS. tom. 
7, Maii die 29, ^S 8, p. 141. 

t Wading, and others, believed that he was the first who bore the name 
of Francis. Jiut Mabillon found this name without any sirname in the 
Cartulary of Chateaudun, written at the beginning of the twelfth century, 
and he remarks tliat it was the first time. We see also, in the Italia Sacra ^ 
that the Bishop of Arezzo, in 1 188, was called Francis. 



40 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

His mother, who was tender and generous, had more patience with 
him; and she said to those who spoke to her of his profusion, 
that from what she remarked in his conversation, in his actions, 
and even in his amusements, she had reasons to hope something 
great when he should come to maturer years. 

Indeed, in all his demeanor, excellent prognostics for the 
future were observable : his temper was exquisite, mild, and 
condescending, his manners w^ere agreeable and very polite ; he 
was lively, and had great good sense : he was brave, and had a 
strong inclination to be generous, even to give beyond his means. 
Although he plunged into the vain amusements of the world, 
there was nothing blamable in his moral conduct. By the 
special protection of heaven, he avoided the rocks on which youth 
is too often wrecked ; he preserved the inestimable treasure of 
purity ; it was also remarked that he was distressed at any 
licentious expressions, and never made any reply to them. 

God had imprinted in his heart great feelings of compassion 
for the poor, which increased from his infancy, and which induced 
him to afford them liberal aid, so that, following the Gospel 
precept, ''Give to every one that asketh thee,'""^ he made a 
resolution to give to all who should ask alms of him, and 
principally if they should solicit it for the love of God. This 
feeling for the love, of God had its effect upon him, even then, 
notwithstanding his dissipation ; he could seldom hear the expres- 
sion made use of, as he has since admitted, without being sensibly 
affected. It having once happened to him, in the hurry of busi- 
ness, to turn away a poor person who had asked a charity for the 
love of God, his conscience smote him immediately, and he ran 
after the poor man, relieved him amply, and made a promise to 
God that he would never refuse a single individual as long as it 
was in his power, when an alms should be asked for His love, — a 
promise which he faithfully kept to his death, and which, as St. 
Bonaventure remarks, was of essential service in increasing the 
grace and love of God in his heart. What is there more likely to 
bring down the grace of conversion and sanctification, and increase 
the love of God, than the practice of works of mercy ? 

The amiable qualities of Francis rendered him a favorite 
throughout the town, where he was looked up to as the flower of 
the youth, and great hopes were entertained for the future in his 
regard. A man of simple manners, but enlightened from above, 
caused a still greater esteem to be entertained for him. When he 
met him in the streets, he spread his cloak on the ground before 
him, and as a reason for showing him so unusual a mark of 
respect, ' This young man," he said, ''will soon do great things : 

* Luke vi, 30. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 4 1 

he will deserve all sorts of honors, and will be revered by the 
faithful/' Francis, who was unconscious of the designs of God, 
did not understand the meaning of this prediction. He knew not 
that these honors were to be rendered him only after severe 
humiliations according to the words of the Gospel."^ Engrossed 
by the affairs of the world, and attached to its vanities, he thought 
little of this divine truth, and he had less taste for it ; nevertheless 
he hoped that he should some day receive the honors which others 
foretold, and which God permitted him likev/ise to predict of 
himself in an affliction which came upon him. 

The towns of Assisi and Perugia were at war with each other ;t 
he was taken prisoner with some of his fellow-citizens : whether 
it was that he had taken up arms in the service of his country, or 
that he was beyond the limits of the town on his commercial 
affairs. His captivity, however, did not affect his spirits, he 
preserved his cheerfulness and good humor. His companions, 
who were dejected and cast down, were offended at this, and 
upbraided him with it, saying that be might, at least out of feeling 
for them, disguise them, disguise his satisfaction. '^I am very 
sorry for you, " he replied, ' ' but as to myself, my mind is at ease, 
and I am thankful that it is so. You see me now a prisoner, but 
at a future period, you will see me honored by the whole world." 
There was one among the prisoners whose quarrelsome temper 
and extreme ill humor caused him to be shunned by the others, 
Francis entreated them to draw a distinction between his person 
and his defects, and to bear with him : not being able to induce 
them to do so, he had the charity to keep him company himself, 
and by his good advice, he rendered him more gentle. All were 
so delighted with his goodness of heart, that ihey sought his 
friendship. 

Liberated from captivity, he returned to Assisi, where God 
visited him with a long and severe illness, which reduced him to 
a state of great weakness. This was to prepare his soul for the 
influence of grate. As soon as he could walk, he wished to enjoy 
the beauty and air of the country ; but he failed to be pleased 
therewith, and was even disgusted with what he had previously 
liked the most ; he felt contempt for what he had before esteemed, 
and his own conduct appeared to him to be senseless. This 
change surprised him much, but it did not as yet make any 
alteration in his heart. The return of health renewed his 
attachment to the world, his ambition and vanity revived ; h'e 
entertained fresh hopes of greatness, and paid once more great 



* Matt, xxiii, I2.- 

t These two towns may have taken opposite sides when iNIarcuaM 
Marcomald laid waste the hiiuls of the Chureh. Rayn. an. 1 188-9. 



4 2 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

attention to his dress. Thus it frequently happens that when God 
sends illness to worldly persons with a view to their conversion, 
these have no other effect than momentar}' reflections and 
promises, which are soon forgotten on the return of strength. 

However, Francis became more and more charitable, and gave 
to all the poor either money or his clothes. Having met a poor 
and ill-clad officer, who was of a noble family, he saw in him the 
poverty of Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and being moved to 
pity, he gave him the new suit of clothes he had on. 

The following night, God showed him in his sleep a great and 
magnificent palace, full of warlike arms, all marked w^th the sign 
of the cross, to give him an idea of the reward his charity was to 
receive. He asked who all that belonged to : and he was answered, 
that the arms were for his soldiers. 

Not as yet understanding the m.eaning of mysterious dreams, he 
took this as a token of the success he was to have in warlike 
achievements, without suspecting that the crosses he had seen had 
a totally different signification. At that time Walter, Count of 
Brienne, in Champagne, was waging active war against the 
emperor, in the kingdom of Naples, on the subject of the claims 
of his wife Alberia, the eldest daughter of Tancred, King of Sicily, 
who had been some years dead. Francis resolved to offer him 
his sen-ices, in the hope of gaining militar}- honors. He attached 
himself to an officer of distinction, who belonged to the count's 
army, and he set out with a good retinue, after having assured his 
friends that he was sure of acquiring great renown. * 

He first went to Spoleto, and there Jesus Christ addressed these 
benevolent words to him during the night: "Francis, which of 
the two, think you, can be of the greatest ser\'ice to you : the 
master or the sen^ant, the rich or the poor } *" ' ' It is the master 
and the rich, '' he answered without any hesitation. ' ' Why then, '*' 
continued our Lord, ' ' do you leave God who is master and rich, 
to seek man, who is the servant and poor ? '' '' O Lord ! " exclaimed 
Francis, ''what is it your pleasure I should do.?'' Jesus Christ 
then said to him, ''Return to your town; what you have seen 
signifies nothing but what is spiritual. It is from God, and not 
from man, that you will receive their accomplishment.'' The 
ver}' next morning he retraced his steps towards Assisi, to await 
the orders of the Lord, without troubling himself as to what the 
world should say as to this precipitate return. 

His friends came as usual to propose a part}- of pleasure. He 
received them, as was his custom, wtth great politeness, and 
feasted them magnificently, to bid them, thus honorably, an 
eternal adieu. On parting from them, he found himself suddenly 

* Maimb. Hist, dcs Crois. torn. 2 lib. 9, 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 43 

Struck with the vanity of all terrestrial things, and with the grandeur 
of all that is heavenly, by a communication from the Spirit of 
God, full of mildness, but so internal, and so forcible, that his 
senses were brought into a state of inaction, and he himself 
remained motionless. He afterwards told his confessor, that, if he 
had been torn to pieces in this state of rapture, he would not have 
felt it ; that, in that moment, he could only feel at the bottom of 
his soul. The company, quite alarmed, drew near him ; and 
when he had recovered his usual serenity, they enquired of him, 
laughing, what had occasioned his extraordinary reserve ; if, 
perhaps, he was not thinking of takmg a wife .?^ "It is so,'*' he 
replied : '^ I shall take one, but one so noble and so beautiful, that 
such another will not be found in the whole world. " Evangelical 
poverty, which he afterwards embraced, was the spouse to which 
the Holy Ghost inspired him to allude. 

After this divine favor he disembarrassed himself as much as 
possible of his commercial affairs, to beg of God to know what He 
would have him do ; and he usually went to pray in a grotto with 
a confidential friend, who left him there in entire liberty. The 
frequent recourse to prayer excited in his heart so ardent a desire 
for the celestial country, that he already looked upon everything 
that was earthly as nothing. He felt that this happy disposition 
constained a treasure, but he did not as yet know how to possess 
himself of the hidden prize. The spirit of God merely insinuated 
to him that the spiritual life, under the idea of a traffic, must begin 
by a contempt of the world, and under the idea of a warfare, by a 
victory over self All spirituality not based upon these two divine 
lessons, will never have anything solid in it. 

Francis had soon occasion to put these lessons in practice. As 
he was riding across the plains of Assisi, he perceived a leper 
coming straight to him. At first he felt horror-stricken, but call- 
ing to mind that he had formed a resolution to labor to attain 
perfection, and that, in order to be a soldier of Jesus Christ, it was 
necessaiy to begin by obtaining a victory over self, he dismounted, 
kissed the leper, and gave him an alms. When he again mounted 
his horse, he no longer saw any one, though he looked all round 
the plain. Filled with astonishment, and transported with joy, he 
began to sing the praises of God, and formed a firm resolution to 
aim at still greater perfection. This is the eftect of generous and 
courageous eftbrts, they draw down fresh graces, and reanimate 
our courage. He acquired also more inclination for retirement ; 
he had no longer any liking but for solitude, for those places which 
were adapted to the holy sorrow of penance, where he unceasingly 
addressed himself to God in fervent prayer, accompanied by 
lamentations, which cannot be described : God at length favorably 
heard him. 



44 S. FRxVNXIS OF ASSISI. 

His fervor daily increasing, insomuch that he was wholly 
absorbed in God, Jesus Christ appeared to him as if attached to 
the cross. His soul, at this stupendous scene, was wholly pene- 
trated, and, as it were, dissolved, and the image of his crucified 
Saviour became from that time so strongly and intimately imprinted 
on his heart, that every time it recurred to his mind, he had a 
difficulty in restraining his sobs and tears. This is what some, who 
were in his confidence, learnt from him towards the close of his life. 

In this marvellous apparition he was made aware that these 
words of the Gospel were personally addressed to him*: "If any 
man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his 
cross and follow Me/'* He received from them that foretaste of 
poverty and humility which became his characteristics, and so 
ardent a charity inflamed his heart, that he had the courage to 
devote himself to the service of the lepers. Before this day they 
were so much his horror, that, far from allowing them to be in his 
presence, as soon as he saw them, at whatever distance, he turned 
away from them, and if they were near he passed on quickly, 
holding his nose. But for the love of Jesus crucified, who was 
pleased to represent Himself to the prophet Isaiasf under the 
despised figure of a leper, he lowered himself to attending upon 
them in their hospitals, where, having abundantly supplied' them 
with alms, he made their beds, dressed their sores, and performed 
for them the most abject services ; he often even kissed their hands 
and their faces with great feelings of commiseration. The words 
which our Saviour one day addressed to him while at prayer, 
stimulated him to continue this charitable exercise, notwithstand- 
ing his natural repugnance : ' ' Francis, if thou desirest to know 
My will, thou must despise and hate all that thou hast loved and 
wished for till now. Let not this new path alarm thee, for, if the 
things which now please thee must become bitter and distasteful, 
those which now displease thee, will become sw^eet and agreeable. '' 
Shortly before his death he declared that what had seemed to him 
most bitter in serving the lepers, had been changed into what was 
pleasing both for soul and body ; and all those who strive to 
overcome themselves for the love of God feel, as he did, that the 
severest practices are soon softened down by the unction of grace. 

The sight of Jesus Christ fastened to the cross made him feel 
the miser}^ of the poor so intensely, that he would have wished to 
employ all he had, and his own person, in their relief Some- 
times he did strip himself to clothe them ; and when he had not 
enough to satisfy them all, he unsewed or tore his clothes to divide 
among them. In the absence of his father he caused much more 
bread to be brought to table at their meals than was necessary ; 



Matt, xvi, 24. t Isaias, liii, 4. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 45 

and when his mother asked the reason, he said, ''that it was in 
order to give more quickly to those who came to ask, for I cannot 
bear their complaints ; they pierce my heart with grief. '' This 
pious mother saw with pleasure the charity of her son ; and far 
from endeavoring to check it, she was not displeased at his 
leaving her alone at table, while he took to the neighboring sick 
the viands of which he stinted himself An equally lively and 
respectful zeal induced him to come to the aid of such priests as 
were in want ; he took particular care to provide for the decoration 
of the altars, in order the better to assist at the divine service. 
He bought the finest hnen, and distributed it to the poor country 
churches to be employed at the sacrifice of the mass ; and when 
this august sacrifice was about to be celebrated, if anything was 
wanting, or if the altar was not properly found in everything 
requisite, he would offer himself to the officers of the church, in 
order to supply what was required either from his purse or by his 
personal assistance. 

But all these good works did not come up to what he had 
figured to himself as requisite for perfection. He could have 
wished to withdraw into some distant country, there to practise 
voluntary poverty, which had already inflamed his heart. At first 
he resolved to go to Rome, to visit the tomb of St. Peter, by that 
movement of devotion which God has often inspired in His Saints, 
and which has been so frequent from the fourth century. He also 
proposed to himself to solicit fi'om the Almighty, by the inter- 
cession of the Prince of the Apostles, the grace to carry out the 
resolution he had come to of leading an Apostolic life. After 
having put up his prayer in this holy place, he noticed that in the 
crowd of people some made but a slender offermg, while others 
made no donation whatever. ''What then," said he, "is devotion 
grown so cold ? How is it that men do not offer all they have, 
and do not even offer themselves on a spot where the ashes of 
the Prince of the Apostles reposed ? How does it happen that 
they do not decorate with all possible magnificence this Peter, on 
which Jesus Christ has founded his Church ? " He contributed 
to the best of his power, leaving a considerable sum for that 
purpose ; and what he had wished was subsequently executed. 
The Sovereign Pontiffs, and in particular Sixtus V, who was a 
religious of his order, have rendered the Basilica of St. Peter 
so sumptuous and magnificent, that it is become the admiration 
of the universe. 

On going out of the church, he saw a multitude of poor, 
whom he immediately joined, as much for the affection he had for 
them, as for the love of poverty. He gave his clothes to him 
who appeared the most necessitous, and took his rags himself 
and he remained the rest of the day in their comiKui}-, widi 



46 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

extraordinary satisfaction to himself; and thus he trod under 
foot the pride of Hfe, and raised himself up by degrees to 
evingelical perfection. The following day, having dressed 
himself with propriety, he set out on his return to Assisi, praying 
God to guide him in the ways of holy poverty. 

The devil, wno was sensible that the young man would become 
confirmed in his intention if he persevered in prayer, appeared to 
him under a most terrific form, and threatened him, if he persisted, 
to render him a dreadful deformity like unto an old woman of 
the town, who was so hideous that he would not even look at her. 
But the newly-enlisted soldier of Jesus Christ, who began to be 
inured t^ warfare, laughed at the threats of the tempter, and was 
more urgent in his prayers, for which purpose he chose under- 
ground places, where he could better defend himself against the 
snares of his enemy. The fruit of these holy exercises was a lively 
sorrow for the use he had made of the first years of his youth, and 
a great perseverance in the mortification of his senses, in order to 
bear the cross of Jesus Christ in his body, as he bore it in his 
heart, and to consecrate himself wholly to God. Assiduity in 
prayer, joined to the practice of mortifications, are two excellent 
means for advancement in virtue and arriving at a state of sanctity. 

It was thus that Francis acted before having changed his habit, 
or quitted the world. St. Bonaventure says that he had then no 
other master from whom he received instructions than Jesus Chrisi ; 
nevertheless, an author quoted by Wading, assures us that he 
sometimes consulted the Bishop of Assisi. We may here say, in 
order that there may be no seeming contradiction between the two, 
that he received instructions from Jesus Christ only because he 
was inspired by Him, but that he communicated with the Bishop 
on* the points on which he had been inspired ; and we may be 
the more assured of this, as we shall see hereafter that this prelate 
had his confidence, and that there is reason to think that he was 
his spiritual Father. 

The servant of God, walking and meditating one day out of 
Assisi, near the church of St. Damian, which was very old and 
falling into ruin, was moved by the Holy Spirit to enter it to pray. 
There, prostrated before the crucifix, he repeated three times the 
following beautiful w^ords, which gave him great interior con- 
solation, and which he subsequently made frequent use of: 
"Great God, full of glory, and Thou, my Lord Jesus Christ! I 
entreat you to enlighten me and to dispel the darkness of my mind, 
to give me a pure faith, a firm hope, and an ardent charity. Let 
me have a perfect knowledge of Thee, O God ! so that I may in 
all things be guided by Thy light, and act in conformity to Thy 
will." He cast his eyes, filled with tears, upon the crucifix, when 
a voice came forth from it, and he heard distinctly these words 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 47 

repeated three times, not interiorly, but loudly pronounced : 
^'Francis, go and repair my house, which thou seest is falling 
into ruin/' So wonderful a voice, in a place where he was alone, 
alarmed him greatly, but he felt immediately the salutarv efilects 
of it, and he was transported with joy. 

The sense of these words chiefly related to the state of the 
Church which Jesus Christ had purchased at the price of His 
blood, which the holy man was to repair in all its defects by his 
ministry and the labors of his disciples, according to the explana- 
tion which the holy Spirit gave to him of them subsequently, 
which he communicated to his brethren, as St. Bonaventure tells us. 

Nevertheless, the powerful protection which he received from 
heaven for the repair of the church of St. Damian, was an indication 
that the same words were to be understood to relate to that build- 
ing also : as the sacred oracles had a twofold literal sense in the 
mouths of the Prophets, one of which related to events which were 
at hand, and the other to a distant time, and to mysteries wholly 
spiritual. 

Francis came to himself ; he left the church fully resolved to 
undertake its repair, and left money in the hands of a priest named 
Peter, who did the parochial duties of it, to keep a lamp burning 
before the crucifix, promising to give more, and to employ all he 
had for the use of this holy place. 

The voice which had issued from the crucifix renewed in his 
mind and heart the impression of the mystery of the Passion. He 
felt himself interiorly wounded through the wounds of Jesus Christ, 
and he shed such burning tears, that his eyes were quite inflamed, 
and, as it were, full of blood, when he returned from prayoi. To 
make his body participate in the sufferings which penetrated his 
very soul, and to punish himself for the levities of his youth, he 
imposed on himself a very rigorous abstinence, with various other 
descriptions of mortification. 

The eagerness he felt to commence the repair of St. Damian's 
church, suggested to him means by which the work might be 
begun. After having fortified himself by the sign of the cross, he 
took from his father's stores several pieces of cloth, which he sold 
at P^oligno, together with his horse. He came back on foot, and 
offered the money respectfully to the priest of St. Damian for the 
repair of the church, and in aid of the poor ; humbly entreating him 
to allow him to remain some time with him. The priest consenteJ i 
to receive Francis, but refused the money, fearing the displeasure 
of his father ; and Francis, who had utter contempt for money, not 
valuing it more than so much dust, when it was of no use for good 
works, threw it upon one of the windows of the church.* 



* This church is still extant; and tlicy show the wimlow into wliich tne 
money was thrown. (Wadinf]^, Aj)p. ^S 5.) 



I 



48 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

The heretics of the last centun-, who calumniated the Saint for 
many things, have deemed it criminal in him to have taken these 
pieces of cloth from his fathers stores. St. Bonaventure is of a 
different way of thinking; he has not though-t that this action 
required justification ; on the contrar}^, he calls the sale of the cloth 
and of the horse a fortunate bargain. And, indeed, without 
going into the right which the son may have had in the com- 
mercial affairs of his father, in consequence of their partnership, 
and of his age of twenty-five, had he not reason to think that, 
having received orders from heaven to repair a church, God, who 
is the Master and Dispenser of all goods, permitted him to employ 
a proportion of those which were under his paternal roof, since he 
had no other means of obeying the injunction } But i*t is an 
extraordinary case, which must not be drawn into precedent. The 
general rule of Christian morality is, that children may not dispose 
of anything without the permission of their parents even under the 
pretext of piety. =*" 

Bernardo on his return from a journey, having heard what his 
son had done, came in great wrath to St. Damian's with several 
members of his family ; and Francis, who had not yet sufficient 
strength of mind to encounter the storm, and wished to avoid the 
first ebullition, went and hid himself in the priest's room. Three 
contemporar}' authors assure us that, having placed himself behind 
the door, and pressing himself agains-t the wall, when the door 
was opened he was miraculously f let into the wall, so that he was 
not seen by those who were looking for him. 

* The conduct of the Saint on this occasion may seem at first sight opposed 
to the ordinary rules of right and wrong; for how could he, it may be 
objected, in justice dispose of property which did not belong to him ? How- 
ever, the blessing which rested upon the action, and the testimony which 
God has since borne to the sanctity of His servant, oblige us to inquire 
whether he may not have acted in obedience to some higher rule, namely, 
to the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is certainly quite contrary to 
the ordinary law of justice for one man to take for himself the property of 
another ; but if Almighty God, to whom all things ultimately belong, and for 
whom we are only stewards, is pleased to dispense with this His own law in 
a particular case, and to bestow what He has hitherto given to (me upon 
another, He confers at the same time a valid title to the gift, and it is no 
robbery in him who has received it to act upon that title. 

We but apply to the Saint the same principle which is used to exculpate 
the seeming injustice of the Israelites in spoiling the Egyptians, the sacrifice 
of Isaac, and the indiscriminate slaughter of the Cbanaanites. The event 
justifies or condemns the act in the eyes of the world at large ; Avhile for those 
who feel impelled to actions opposed to ordinary laws, there are rules laid 
down in ascetical theology by which they may discern whether their impulse 
is a movement of the Holy Spirit, or a delusion of the evil one. 

Perhaps the anecdote in the text may also be explained on the supposition 
that St. Francis was in partnership with his father, as is suggested in the 
text, and therefore had a right to a portion of his property. — \_0?'at. Edif.~\ 

t This wall was preserved, when a convent of his order was built in the 
same place in his life-time, and the hollow place is seen in it. (Wading.) 



S, FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 49 

When his father was gone, he retired secretly into a cavern, 
which was known only to one servant, from whom he received what 
was necessary for his immediate sustenance, and where he occupied 
himself in continual prayer, shedding abundance of tears, in order 
that he might be delivered from those who pursued him, and be 
able to accomplish the work which God had inspired him to 
undertake. 

After having passed a month in this place, he considered that it 
was in God alone that he ought to hope, without putting any 
confidence in his own exertions, and this thought filled him with 
interior joy, and raised his depressed spirits. Reproaching him- 
self, therefore, with his pusillanimity, he left his cavern and went 
straight to the town, as a soldier, who, feeling ashamed of having 
fled, returns intrepidly to the charge. Of what is not he capable, 
who is fully persuaded that he can do nothing of himself towards 
his salvation, but that he can do all through Him who imparts 
strength to him } On these two principles the Saints have under- 
taken, and carried into execution, the greatest things. 

The inhabitants of iVssisi, who saw his face all pale and wan, and 
who remarked how changed were his conversation and opinions, 
thought that his mind was disturbed. He was called a madman, 
they threw mud and stones at him, and followed him, hooting 
and calling after him. But, without paying attention to these 
insults, and being on the contrary well pleased to bear these marks 
of the holy folly of the cross, the servant of God continued his 
way as if he had been deaf and insensible. 

Bernardo being told that his son had returned, and was made 
the object of public derision, went immediately in pursuit of him, 
reproached him bitterly with his conduct, seized him and dragged 
him to his house, where he beat him severely, and confined him 
in a hole under the staircase."^ This severity had no effect in 
shaking the resolution of the holy prisoner ; he even acquired 
more firmness, and encouraged himself to suffer by the words of 
the Gospel : "Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' 
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, "f 

A short time after, when his father was on a journey, his mother, 
who did not approve of the severity with which he was treated, and 
who moreover had no hope of overcoming his constancy, set him 
at liberty. He gave thanks to God for it, and made use of it, to 
return to the church of St. Damian. Bernardo, not finding him 
in his confinement at his return, was not content with upbraiding 



* This sort of prison is still seen. It was preserved in 1615, when the 
house was turned jnto a cliurcli and convent, at the request of Philip the Third, 
King of Spain. — Wading. App. ^ 3. 

t Matt. V. 10. 



f: S. FRANCIS OF ASSISL 

his wife in the severest terms, but went off to St Damian's to 
drive him out of the country if he should not succeed in bringing 
him back. Francis, to whom God had given strength, presented 
himself boldly to his &ther, and told him decidedly that he cared 
not for his blows, nor for his shackles, for that he was prepared 
willingly to suffer all sorts of e\-ils for the name of Jesus Christ 
His fether, seeing that there was nothing more to hope in his case, 
thought of nothing fiuther than to get back the money for the 
cloth and the horse, and he fotmd the whole in the window 
where Francis had thrown it, when the priest refused to take it ; and 
then his wrath was somewhat appeased 

A\"arice, which is never satisfied, induced Bernardo to believe 
that his son had other money, and he had him summoned before 
the city magistrates, to accoimt for it Francis appeared before 
their tribunal and told them that he had changed his state of 
life, that God had delivered him firom the slavery of the world, 
and that he had nothing more to do with its affairs. The magis- 
trates, who knew his conversion and his perseverance, saw some- 
thing grand in his demeanor, and told his fether, who urged 
them to put interrogatories to his son, that this affair ought to be 
carried into the bishop's court Bernard addressed himself to 
that authorit\% not only to compel his son to give up what money 
he had, but to force him to renounce his claims to any paternal 
inheritance. Francis, who was a sincere lover of poverty, cheer- 
fully consented to all that was required of him, and said that he 
would willingly appear before the bishop, who was the pastor and 
father of his soul. As soon as he was there, without waiting for 
his &ther to make his demand, and without saying anvthing 
himself, he gave up what money he still had, and then stripped- 
off his clothes, even to his shirt, under which it was seen that h 
wore a hair-shirt, and gave them up to his fether, addressing hi 
in the following beautiful words : ' ' Until this time I have call< 
thee father on earth ; but from henceforward I may boldly say. 
Our Father who art in Heaven, in whom I have placed all my 
treasure, and all my confidence.'*' 

The prelate, who was a man of great worth, admiring this 
excess of fervor, and moved even to tears, rose up, and embracing 
the ser\*ant of God, covered him with his cloak, and ordered his 
ser\-ants to bring such clothing as was necessary for him. It was no 
doubt by a dispensation of Di^•ine Proridence that a bishop pressed 
to his bosom him who was to combat so strenuously for the ser\-ice 
of the Church. They brought an old cloak belonging to a 
laborer, who was in the employ of the bishop, which Francis 
leceived with great satisfaction, and with which he clothed himself, 
making on it a crc^s with some mortar which he met with 
accidentallv : thus manifesting what he wished to be, a half-naked 




S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 5 1 

poor one, and a crucified man. This occurred in the year 1206, 
when he was in his twenty-fifth year. St. Bonaventure, who gives 
the name of spiritual intoxication to the admiralDle fervor with 
which he stripped himself entirely in order to be able to follow 
Jesus Christ naked on the cross, says that, moreover, in order to 
avoid the shipwrecks of the world, he fortified himself with the 
representation of the wood which was the instrument of our 
salvation. 

Emancipated from the ties of worldly desires, as he had wished 
to be, he now sought for some sequestered spot, where alone and 
in silence he might listen to the voice of God. In a wood, 
through which he Avas passing, singing the praises of God in the 
French language, some thieves surrounded him and asked him 
who he was. ^'I am the herald of the great King," he replied, 
in a prophetical sense, with perfect confidence in God. On 
receiving this answer, they beat him cruelly, threw him into a 
hole that was full of snow, and ridiculed the title he gave himself. 
When they had left him, he again began to sing the praises of 
God in a louder voice than before, delighted to have had an 
opportunity of sufi'ering. At a neighboring monastery, where he 
implored alms, w^hich he received as a contemptible beggar, they 
employed him for some days in the vilest affairs of the scullery. 
But seeing that this interfered too much with his spiritual exercises, 
he came to Gubbio, where one of his friends, having recognized 
him, gave him, in order that he might be more decently clad, a 
hermit's dress,* a short tunic, a leathern girdle, shoes, and a staflf. 

In this penitential habit, he subjected his body to additional 
austerities ; and in order to fulfil ail the functions of humility, to 
which he was much attached, he devoted himself to the service of 
the lepers. He was constantly seen in their hospitals, moving 
about in all directions to aid them, preventing all their wants, 
showing the greatest compassion for them, washing their feet, 
cleansing their sores, removing the matter, and, by a wonderful 
effort of charity, kissing their disgusting ulcers. He received from 
God in reward the gift of healing ; and this was a figure of the 
evangelical cures, which he was soon to apply to the diseases of 
the soul. 

Among many proofs which St. Bonaventuie adduces of his 
having the gift of healing miraculously, he mentions that of a man 
of the Duchy of Spoleto, whose mouth and checks were eaten 
away by a dreadful cancer, and for whom all sorts of remedies had 



* Three centuries later, son.e persons pretended that he then adopted, not 
a hermit's dress, but that of tlie Augustinians, from the hands of a rehi;ious • 
of that order, and that he had made profession of that rule. Wadini; has 
proved unanswerably, that this 0])inion is incorrect, and it has been given up. 



52 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

been fruitlessly employed. This man met Francis returning from 
Rome (whither he had been to implore the assistance of the 
blessed Apostles), who, out of great respect, wished to kiss his 
feet ; this the humble Francis prevented, but kissed the cancerous 
face, which was instantaneously cured. The same Saint remarks : 
'*I know not which is most to be admired, such a kiss, or such 
a cure !" 

The servant of God, who now acknowledged no other country 
than heaven, and who was fearful of being the cause of some of 
his father's violences, proposed to himself to take up his abode in 
Gubbio and devote himself to the exercises of charity, without re- 
turning to Assisi ; but calling to mind the order which had been 
given him by the voice which came from the crucifix, to repair 
the Church of St. Damian, he thought himself bound to obey it, 
at least by ' ' questing " for w^hat was requisite for working at it. 
The profound humility which he had acquired by the degradations 
he had subjected himself to, gave him the courage he required 
for begging in his native town, where he had been known to have 
possessed everything in plenty. Having cast aside all bashfulness 
for the love of Jesus Christ poor and crucified, he w^ent through 
the centre of Assisi as one inspired, publishing the glories of God, 
and soliciting stones for the repair of the church ; addressing his 
fellow-citizens with simplicity^ thus: " Whosoever will give me a 
stone, shall have a reward ; whoever will give two shall have a 
double reward ; and he who gives three shall be rewarded 
threefold.-' 

Many treated him with contempt, and turned him into ridicule. 
Others could not understand how a young man of a good and 
opulent family, with excellent prospects, hitherto considered as 
the model of the young men of the place, could demean himself 
to such a degree as to beg in his native town. Some thought 
that such a change could only come from God, and were greatly 
moved by it. But the new-made pauper, having no respect for 
the opinions of men, and receiving cheerfully the insults put upon 
him, after the example of Jesus Christ, thought of nothing but the 
church of St. Damian, for which he quested so successfully, that 
many persons, moved by his exhortations, furnished sufficient 
for its repair. He himself worked at it daily, and carried the 
materials on his shoulders as a common laborer, without any 
regard for his body, which was emaciated by the rigors of penance 
and fasting. 

The priest of St. Damian took compassion on the pious work- 
man, and took care to provide him with a substantial meal when 
he came in from work. Francis having received this charitable 
succor for some days running, reflected on his situation, and said 
to himself, as he afterwards told his disciples: ''Will you find 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 53 

everywhere a priest who haa so much consideration for you ? . 
This is not the sort of Hfe you have chosen : go, then, henceforward 
from door to door, as a poor man, and sohcit food for the love of 
God, with an empty plate, on which you will put whatever may 
be given you. For it is thus you must live for the love of Him 
who was born poor, who lived poorly, whom they affixed naked 
to the cross, and who was put after His death into another man's 
tomb/' One must be very dead to self, have great contempt of 
the world, and a sincere love of God, to entertain such feelings 
and carry them out 

The following day he took a plate, and went begging from 
door to door, and sat down in the street to eat. At the first 
mouthful he took of this disgusting mess, he felt a nausea at his 
stomach, which made him recoil. Animated at the same instant 
by the love of poverty, he became ashamed of his weakness, and 
reproached himself for the feeling ; after which, he ate the re- 
mainder without reluctance, and with so much relish, that he 
thought he had never eaten a better meal. He also felt an 
interior joy and strength in his body, which enabled him to bear 
w^ith pleasure, for God's sake, whatever might be most severe or 
bitter. After having returned fervent thanks to the Father of the 
poor, who had given him so wonderful a taste, he went to the 
priest and entreated him to take no further trouble with respect to 
his nourishment, ''because," he said, ''I have found an excellent 
purveyor, and a very able cook, who can season his dishes in a 
superior way." He had often these jocose expressions, which 
were as much the effect of the spiritual joy he felt, as of his 
natural lively and joyous turn of mind. 

Bernardo, vexed in the greatest degree at seeing his son begging 
and exposed to the jeers of the public, was inflamed with anger, 
and either turned from him when he met him, or cursed him. 
Francis admitted that these curses affected him more thah any 
other suffering he endured, and he hit upon a method of pro- 
tecting himself from him. It was to take another poor and 
miserable man with him, who should be as father to him, whom 
he engaged to bless him, making the sign of the cross on him 
whenever his father cursed him ; and then he said to Bernardo : 
''Believe me, my father, that God can give me, and indeed has 
given me, another father, from whom I receive blessings for 
your curses." 

His brother Angelb, a young man full of the love of the world, 
also mocked him, and turned him into ridicule. Seeing him one 
day in church shivering witli cold in his poor hermit's dress, and 
praying devoutly, he said to one of his friends: "Go and ask 
him to sell you a little of his sweat.?" Francis replied, "1 l\o 
not choose to .sell my sweat lo men : I can sell it at a bclior j-jrice 



54 S. FRA^X^IS OF ASSISI. 

to God." If all Christians thought thus, they would not take so 
much pains for the world, which pays so ill, and they would do 
much for God, who rewards so magnificently. 

The pauper of Jesus Christ gained many other victories over 
himself in the quest he had taken upon himself for the building 
of St. Damian. He suftered with admirable patience the per- 
secution of some worldly persons, who treated him as a fool, and 
insulted him in a thousand ways. Ever}^ time that it happened 
to him to blush when he met any of his acquaintances or friends, 
he reprimanded himself as if he had committed some great 
fault ; he humbled himself the more, and begged for alms more 
submissively, to take down all influence of pride. One day 
when he was begging for oil for two lamps which he wished to 
keep constantly burning before the crucifix, from which the 
miraculous voice had been heard, he went into a house where 
some persons of his acquaintance were collected together for 
gaming. Their sight struck him, and gave him a feeling of 
shame which induced him to retire. He had scarcely left the 
door, when, thinking on what he had done, he considered 
himself guilty of a great want of firmness, and he immediately 
returned to the place where they were at play, he acknowledged 
his fault before all present, and begged boldly for the lamps 
of the church in the French language, which set the company 
into an immoderate fit of laughter. Such efforts show the 
truth of the remark of St. Ambrose : that the saints were no 
less liable than ourselves to fall into faults ; but that they had 
greater care to practise virtue, and to correct the faults into which 
they fall. ^ 

Pious and well-thinking persons remarked that the conduct of 
Francis was maintained with an equality of fervor, and they found 
a high degree of wisdom in what appeared to the generality of 
the world to be littleness of mind and folly. These opinions 
gradually spread and brought over many to esteem and venerate 
him ; even those who had despised and insulted him, came 
forsvard to solicit his forgiveness. The prior of the monastery 
where he had ser\^ed in the kitchen, who was then at Assisi, and 
who there became acquainted with his rare virtues, showed him 
great respect, begged him to pardon the treatment he had received, 
and excused himself, by saying, that he could not then be 
known under the miserable disguise under which he had hid 
himself The man who had foretold that he would do great 
things, added to this prediction, while applauding himself : ''You 
know what I before said lo you of this young man ; you only 
see the beginning of his holiness, but you will see the continua- 

* Lib. de Joseph. Patriarch, cap. 1, n. 4. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 55 

tion : Jesus Christ will do wonders through him, which all the 
world will admire." 

The dispositions which were now entertained in his regard, 
procured for him the means of completing the repairs of St. 
Dam.ian towards the close of the year 1206. In the course of this 
work, it was remarked that he said to those who passed by, "Assist 
me in finishing this building ; there will be a monastery here some 
day of poor females of holy life, whose reputation will tend to 
glorify our heavenly Father throughout His holy Church." This 
was a real prophecy, the accomplishment of which was witnessed 
five years afterwards, when he established the holy virgin Clare 
and her companions, whom he had consecrated to Jesus Christ, as 
will be recorded in its place ; and this prophecy was so well known, 
that Saint Clare inserted its very words in the will she made in the 
year 1253.* 

At the beginning of the year 1207, Francis, not to remain idle, 
undertook a new work. He proposed to restore the church of 
St. Peter, which was at a little distance from the town, in con- 
sequence of the devotion with which the purity of his faith inspired 
him towards the Prince of the Apostles ; and this intention was 
soon put in force, because, it having been seen how usefully he had 
made use of the donations he had received for his first work, he 
was now furnished with what he required, more readily and more 
abundantly. He now was desirous of eftecting some essential 
repairs to a third church or chapel, about a mile from Assisi, 
which was very ancient, but so deserted and in such a state of ruin, 
that it only served as a refuge for herdsmen in bad weather : its 
name was St. Mary of the Angels, and Ottavio, Bishop of Assisi, 
thus describes its foundation : 

*' In the year of 352, a year after the appearance in the heavens 
of a luminous cross on the /th of May, in broad daylight, over 
the city of Jerusalem, which extended from Mount Calvary to the 
Mountain of Olives, a cross which was more brilliant than the sun, 
as St. Cyril, then bishop of that city, and one of the eye-witnesses 
of the phenomenon, relates in his letter to the Emperor Con- 
stantius, — four holy hermits came from Palestine into Italy, and 
obtained from Pope Libcrius leave to remain in the vaflcy of 
Spoleto, and settled themselves in the vicinity of Assisi, with the 
permission of the authorities of the town. There they built a 
chapel which was called St. Mary of Josaphat,f because they placed 



* This will is given at full length by Wading, in the Annals of the Friars 
Minor, in tlie year 1255. 

t It is usually ])elievecl that the sepulchre of the B. Virgin was in the village 
of CJethscniani, at the pari of Mount Olivet from whence the N'alley o( 
Josaphat extends to jerusnleni. 



I 



56 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

in it a relic of the sepulchre of the Blessed Virgin,* and because 
the altar was consecrated by the title of her glorious Assumption. 
In the sixth centur}' it was given to the religious of the Order of 
St. Benedict, who enlarged and strengthened it ; and it was after- 
wards called St. ^l^ry of the Angels." We shall soon explain the 
reason of this. It was also called Portiuncula, because of some 
portions of ground which the Benedictines of ^Nlount Saubazo 
possessed in the vicinit}'. 

The same author adds that, at the close of the t\velfth centuiy, 
pious persons were accustomed to visit this chapel, although it 
was deserted ; and that the mother of St Francis, after having 
implored the protection of the Blessed Virgin, had had this first 
child who was destined to repair the xtry place in which she 
had made her request. He labored at it also, in consequence 
of his fen-ent devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and he had equal 
success to what he had for the other two churches. 

We can easily understand that a man without any property', who 
was poor and a beggar, could not have accomplished these works 
^vithout assistance from above : but St Bonaventure finds in it a 
still further myster\'. He says that di\ine Pro\-idence, who guided 
Francis in all his actions, preordained things in such manner, 
that he lepaired three churches pre\ious to instituting there his 
orders, in order that the material temples should be the types of the 
three spiritual edifices which he was to raise up ; and that passing 
fi-om what is perceptible to the senses, to what is only apparent to the 
mind, and rising gradually to what is still more elevated, he was 
enabled to give to the Church of Jesus Christ three descriptions of 
soldier}* able to combat for the reformation of morals, and worthy to 
triumph gloriously in heaven. We may add, that the austerities, 
labors, and humiliations of the servant of God had been for the two 
pre\*ious years as so many -Strokes of the hammer, which rendered 
him a chosen and living foundation-stone on which might be based 
these sacred edifices. Such is the method which is adopted by 
our Lord. He prepares all things, and brings them successively 
to perfection ; instead of which, men are always hurried, and 
often endeavor in the way to perfection to advance faster than the 
grace which directs them. 

Of the three churches which Francis had repaired, he chose 
that of St ^lar}' of the Angels for his residence, in order to honor 
the ^lother of God and the celestial Intelligences. St Bona- 
\ enture says that he was often favored by visits from Angels, on 
account of the frequent apparitions of these blessed spirits there. 



"^ Baronius thinks that the tomb of the B. Virgin was covered with the ruins 
of Jerusalem, when sacked l»y the Romans, and was found in the fifth century; 
but the hermits may have had a relic of the sepulchre from the first faithful. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 57 

The man of God passed days and nights there in fervent prayer, 
when he entreated the Blessed Virgin, that as she had conceived and 
brought forth the Word of the Father, full of grace and truth, she 
would have the goodness to obtain for him a participation therein • 
it was there also, that, by the merits of this powerful advocate, he 
had the happiness to conceive and bring forth, if it may be so 
expressed, his evangelical life ; the precious fruit of grace and 
truth, which the Son of God had come to bring upon earth. 

One day when he was assisting in this church at a mass of the 
Apostles, which he had requested the priest of St. Damian to say, 
he listened attentively to the Gospel * where this form of life is 
prescribed by our Saviour for the mission of His Apostles : " Do 
not possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses ; nor scrip 
for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff.'' f After 
mass, he asked the priest to explain these words to him ; he 
understood the sense of them well, and impressed them well on 
his heart, finding in them the image of that poverty which he 
loved : ''This is what I seek for," he exclaimed, quite overjoyed ; 
''this is what I desire with my whole heart." At the same 
instant he threw away his purse with a feeling of horror for money, 
he took off his shoes, he replaced his leather girdle by a cord, 
and devoted his thoughts to putting in practice what he had just 
heard, and to conforming himself in all things to the evangeUcal 
rule. It is a vocation similar to that of St. Anthony, of whom 
St. Athanasius relates, that having heard in the church these 
words of Jesus Christ, "If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou 
hast, and give it to the poor, "J he went immediately to put this 
counsel in practice, in order to attain perfection. 

The hermit's tunic, which Francis still retained, appeared to him 
too delicate ; he therefore got one coarse and rough, of an ash 
gray, which came down to the feet, and the sleeves of which reached 
to the fingers ; to this he added a hood, which covered sufficiently 
the head and face. This description of dress he continued to 
wear during the remainder of his life, § except that the tunic and 

* This Gospel is not now read either at the feasts of. the Apostles or 
Evangelists, nor at their votive masses ; it is only read on the Thursday of 
the Octave of Pentecost, which shows that the Gospels have been differently 
placed in the Missals. t Matt, x, 9 and 10. 

t Sanct. Athan. torn. I, part 2, p. 796. Ed. nov. Matt, xix, 21. 

^ It is similar to the one which he gave subsequently to his religious, and 
which is still retained in his order. At the general chapter held at Narbonne 
in 1260, St. Bonavcnture thought proper to add to the hood sufficient 
material to cover the breast and shoulders ; this is called Mozetta from the 
Italian, which is used for a small cloak for bishops. Some of the chiUh-en 
of St. PVancis do not wear it, and differ from the others in some ]-)oints ; but 
all those who call him Father need have no difficulty on tliis lioad. ll is by 
tlicir poverty and humility tliat he will acknowledge ihcin for h's true 
children. 



58 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

hood had sometimes more or less length or breadth, as is seen in 
his habits which are preserved with great veneration at Assisi, at 
Mount Alvernia, and at Florence. Seeking nothing but poverty 
and humility, he chose the dress that was the plainest, the most 
despicable, and the most likely to make himself despised by the 
world, whose vanities he held in utter contempt ; it was also the 
dress most like to that of the shepherds, and other country 
peasants, w^ho chose it to protect them from the weather ; or 
rather he imitated the prophets, who only covered themselves 
with a sack, to which he afterwards added a short cloak. 

What we have been speaking of happened in the year 1 208, 
which is reckoned the first year of the Order of St. Francis, because 
it is the one in which he took the habit, which he gave in the 
following year to such as chose to imitate him, and in which the 
first stone was laid which served as a foundation for this spiritual 
edifice. 

Then God inspired him to preach, to exhort sinners to repent- 
ance, and to cause evangelical perfection to be loved in the world. 
Although he expressed himself in a very plain manner, his dis- 
courses had nothing in them that was low ; they were solid and 
animated wdth the Spirit of God, and so effectually penetrated the 
hearts of his hearers, that every one w^as surprised at it. He always 
began them by the following salutation, which he afterwards 
declared had been revealed to him by God ; ' ' May the Lord grant 
you His peace. " It was noticed that a very pious man, who was 
in the habit of addressing the two following w^ords to all whom he 
met, " Peace and weal, — Peace and weal ! " was not seen in Assisi 
after Francis began to preach ; as if he wished it to be understood 
that his mission had ended by the presence of him whose precursor 
he was. In fact, this new preacher w^as in truth an angel of peace 
sent from heaven to reconcile a great number of sinners with Jesus 
Christ, and to draw down on them all sorts of benefits. 

He joined to the ministry of the word the exercise of every sort 
of virtue, and applied himself particularly to prayer, where the 
sufferings of our Blessed Saviour made such impression on his soul 
that he groaned and sobbed aloud, when he found himself at 
liberty. One of his friends, passing by the church of St. Mary of 
the Angels, having heard him, w^ent in, and seeing him bathed in 
tears, reproached him with it as of a weakness unbecoming in a 
man. ' ' I weep for the Passion of my Lord Jesus Christ, " answered 
Francis, "and 1 ought not to be ashamed of weeping openly 
before the whole w^orld.'' This enviable emotion w^as in the heart 
of St. Augustin, when he said to his people : ''The Passion of 
Jesus Christ, which the Church puts every year before us, moves 
and affects us as if we saw Him personally stretched on the cross ; 
there are none but the impious who can be insensible to it. — ■ 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 59 

As for me, I wish to lament with you in considering this affecting 
spectacle. This is the time in which to weep, to acknowledge 
ourselves criminals, and to pray for mercy. Which of us would 
have it in his power to shed a sufficiency of tears to equal the 
merit of so great and so worthy a subject of grief? '' ^ Every 
Christian ought to blush, if he is wanting in these sentiments of 
gratitude and love. 

The words and actions of Francis soon became noised abroad. 
Some became converted, and embraced the penitential course he 
preached. Others formed the resolution of leaving all and joining 
him. The first was Bernard da Quintavalle, a rich and discreet 
man, of one of the best families in Assisi, who had great influence 
in the town, and guided it by his advice. This respectable man, 
as St. Bonaventure called him, considering the contempt with 
which Francis viewed all the things of this world, was desirous of 
ascertaining whether it was in truth an effect of sanctity, or of little- 
ness of mind. He invited him, therefore, to supper and to sleep 
at his house, and had a bed prepared for him in his room. While 
he feigned to sleep soundly^ he saw by the light of a lamp Francis 
get up, fall on his knees, melt into tears, his eyes raised to heaven, 
his arms crossed, pronounce slowly these words: ^'Z)eus mens et 
ovinia^'' — ''My God, and my all,'' which he repeated during the 
whole night. So ardent and so tender an expression is quite 
convincing that he was then in an exalted state of contemplation, 
where interior communications made him sensible that the Lord 
was especially his God, and filled the whole soul. Happy he who 
can with truth say, Deus meus et omnia. For this it is requisite 
that he should belong wholly interiorly to God, and that the world 
should be nothing to him. 

Bernard did not interrupt Francis in his holy exercise, but, 
filled with devotional feelings, he said to himself, ''Truly this is 
a man of God." After having put him to other proofs, he re- 
solved to give all his goods to the poor and follow him, and he 
put this question to him : ''If a man had received from his master 
a certain portion for several years, and then wished no longer to 
make use of it, what do you think it would be best for him to do ?" 
Francis said in answer, that he ought to return it to the master 
from whom he had received it " It is I," replied Bernard. " wh(^ 
have received a great deal from God, and much more than I have 
deserved ; I return it willingly into His hands, and place it at your - 
disposal ; for I mean to attach myself to you. " At these words, 
Francis, delighted to find that God began the accomplishment of 
his works by so worthy a personage : " Your intention," he said, 
*'is one of great importance; you must consult i\K>A upon it, to 



1 ). Aiimisl. in l*s. xxi. Ijinri 



6o S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

learn from Him how you are to put it in execution. Early 
to-morrow morning we will ask the Curate of St. Nicholas, who is 
known to be a most worthy man, to say a mass for us, and after 
having heard it, we will continue in prayer till the hour of Tierce. " 
We see in this the mode of acting of one who has the spirit of God ; 
he hurries nothing, he has recourse to prayer, and he makes use of 
the ordinary practices of the Church. 

The following day they did what they had proposed ; after which, 
Francis, who had great devotion to the three Persons of the Blessed 
Trinity, opened three times in their honor the book of the Gospels, * 
entreating the Almighty to confirm, by the testimony of their texts, 
Bernard's holy resolution, f At the first opening they found the 
following : '' If thou wilt be perfect, go sell all thou hast, and give 
it to the poor. "J At the second : ' ' Take nothing for the journey. "§ 
At the third : ' ' If any man wall come after Me, let him deny himself, 
and take up the cross, and follow Me.''|| Then Francis, addressing 
himself to Bernard, said : '^ There is the life we must lead, the 
rule we must follow, you and I, and all those who shall desire to 
join us. Go thou and put in execution what thou hast just heard. " 

The new disciple, intimately convinced that his design came 
from God, sold, as fast as he could, all his effects, from which 
he got a considerable sum, which he had carried to the Square of 
St. George, and distributed it entirely among the poor whom he 
could collect. Francis then gave him a habit similar to his own ; 
he called him his eldest son, and was always tenderly attached to 
him : he was indeed a most holy man. 

. Peter of Catania, canon of the church of St. Rufifinus, the 
cathedral of Assisi, edified by the self-denial and charity of 
Bernard, was disposed to become a disciple of the same master, 
and received the penitential habit on the same day, which was the 
1 6th of April. All three retired to a hut which had been deserted, 
near to a rivulet called Rivo Torio, on account of its winding so 
very much. 

Seven days after that, a very pious man called Giles, w^ho was 
greatly looked up to in Assisi, on his return from the country, 
learnt what his two fellow-citizens had done, which had excited 
the admiration of the whole town, and felt an ardent wish to im- 
itate them, and thus carry out an intention he had entertained of 
devoting himself to the service of God. He passed the following 

* Some authors say that it was the curate who opened the book, and this 
seems to coincide with the great respect he had for priests. 

t This mode, which he took to ascertain the will of God, was accompanied 
by all the conditions requisite, according to St. Thomas, to make it legitirnate ; 
and we cannot reasonably doubt that God inspired him to make use of it, as 
"Ecclesiastical history shows us that He so inspired other Saints. 

t Matt, xix, 21. § Mark vi, 8. 1| Matt, xiii, 24. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 6 1 

night in prayer, when he was inspired to offer himself to Francis, 
for whom he had already great esteem, on account of the extreme 
contempt of the w^orld and of himself, which was remarked in the 
whole of his conduct. In the morning he went to the church of 
St. George, whose festival it was, there to implore the saint's inter- 
cession, that he might find him whom he w^as seeking, of whose 
abode he was ignorant. Seeing out of the town three roads, 
without knowing which to take, he addressed the following prayer 
to God: "O Lord, most holy Father, I entreat Thee by Thy 
mercy, if I am to persevere in this holy vocation, so to guide my 
steps that I may arrive at the place where Thy servant lives whom 
I am seeking.'' He took one of the three roads as God inspired 
him ; and as he w^alked full of his holy project, Francis, who was 
at prayer in a neighboring wood, came out to meet him. 

As soon as Giles saw him, he w^nt to him, and threw himself 
at his feet, and begged the favor of being received into his society. 
The holy man, who was at once satisfied of the faith and piety of 
the postulant, replied : ' ^ My brother, your request is that God 
would receive you as His servant and soldier. This is no small 
favor. It is as if the emperor were to come to Assisi, and wish 
to make choice of a favorite ; each one would say, ' I wish to God 
it may be me.' Thus it is that God has made choice of you." 
He assured him that his vocation came from heaven, and exhorted 
him to persevere. Then presenting him to Bertrand and Peter, 
he said : '^Here is a good brother, w^hom God has sent us."* 
And when he was alone with them, he told them that that man 
would one day excel in sublime virtue. 

After a slender m^eal, and a spiritual conference, Francis set out 
with his new postulant for Assisi, to procure w^hat was requisite 
for clothing. On the way, a woman having asked charity of them, 
the Saint turned to Giles, and with an angelic countenance, said : 
*'My dear brother, let us give this poor woman the cloak you 
have on for the love of God." Giles gave it immediately, and it 
seemed to him that this alms ascended to heaven, which filled him 
with great joy. They begged at Assisi for some very coarse cloth, 
with which Francis clothed his third disciple, in the small hut 
where he instructed him in the religious exercises of a religious 
life with the other two. 

St. Bonaventure f bears witness in his Life of St. Francis, that 
' tf 

* He was of the number of lay-brothers. 

t He wrote the Life of St. Frcancis in 1261, and he speaks in it of the B. 
Giles as of one defunct ; from which we assume that he (bed in 1260, as s.^me 
writers assert, and not in 1262, as others have recorded; unless we suppose 
that the holy doctor, who only pubbslied his work in 1263, at the general 
chapter held at Pisa, may llien liave actded the article relalive to this holy 
person, nfler the 23d of April, 1262, which was the time of his Jeath. 



62 S. TRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

the holy Father Giles (for it is thus he calls him) was a man full 
of God, and worthy, by the excellence of his virtues, of undying 
remembrance, according to the testimony of this saintly patriarch ; 
that during a great number of years he had his mind ever raised 
to heaven, and that he had been often seen lifted up in ecstasy, 
and that he seemed to live a life more angelical than human. *^ I 
myself, " he adds, ^ ' have seen him with my own eyes raised up in 
ecstasy/' He, moreover, gave thanks to God for having permitted 
him to live at a time when he had an opportunity of seeing this 
most holy brother Giles, and converse with him. There is extant 
a collection of his axioms, which are of the highest wisdom, force, 
and unction.* 

Francis did not permit his disciples long to enjoy the sweetness 
of a life of retirement. Having informed them that they were 
bound to go forth to instruct their neighbors by unstudied words 
and an edifying life, he sent Bernard and Peter into Emilia, f and 
set out himself with Giles for the March of Ancona. 

These apostolic men preached everywhere the grandeur and 
goodness of God, the obligation of each one to love Him, to 
obey His love, and to do penance. When they wanted the neces- 
saries of life, they rejoiced, as if it were a treasure that they had 
purchased at the price of all they had possessed. Some persons 
received them obligingly, and did them good offices ; but the 
singularity of their dress, and the rigor of their mode of life, shocked 
most of those who saw them. They were even frequently insulted, 
covered with mud, dragged by their hood, and severely beaten : 
this they joyfully bore, judging from the interior profit which they 
derived from it, that it was greatly to their advantage. 

Their virtue, nevertheless, caused them to be treated at times 
with respect, and honors were even rendered to them. This 
mortified them, Giles in particular, who only gloried in the 
mortifications which he suffered for Jesus Christ's sake, and could 
not bear to be so honored. He said to his father : ^'When men 
honor us, we lose our glory. " He also expressed to him his 
dissatisfaction that the mode of greeting which he had taught 
them, ''May the Lord grant you His peace," was ill received by 
the men of the world. ''Pardon them," replied Francis, "for 
they know not what they do. I verily assure you that hereafter 
there will be many nobles and princes who will respect you and 
your brethren, when you shall address those words to them." 
He foretold to him likewise that his Institute would spread, and 
that it might aptly be compared to a net which a fisherman 
casts into the river, with which he catches a multitude of fish. 

* They are mentioned in his Life, written by the continuators of Bollandus 
for the 23d of April. A translation of it would l)e very acceptable, 
t A province which formed part of Lom]:>ardy and Roniagna, 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 63 

The pious missionaries having gone through several towns, and 
given great satisfaction, returned to the hut at Rivo Torto, when 
a fourth disciple offered himself : his name was Sabbatin. 

Morique, a religious of the order of Crosiers, or cross-bearers,* 
was the fifth. Being sick, and in extremity, given over and 
abandoned by the medical men of the hospital of St. Saviour of 
Assisi, where all strangers were received, he got himself recom- 
mended to the prayers of Francis, who willingly prayed for him, 
and mixed a little crumb of bread with the oil of the lamp w^hich 
burnt before the altar of St. Mary of the Angels, which he sent him 
by two of his brethren, saying to them : ' ' Take this to our dear 
brother Morique. The power of Jesus Christ will not only restore 
him to perfect health, but will cause him to become a generous 
soldier, who will enter into our militia, and will persevere in it." 
The sick man had hardly swallowed the remedy when he w^as quite 
cured, and he soon after entered the Institute of his charitable 
physician, in which he lived in prodigious austerity during a long 
Hfe, and enjoyed perfect health. 

A sixth disciple, called John, and surnamed De Capella, began 
well, but finished ill.| He w^as employed to distribute to his 
brethren what was given to them in alms, and he took willingly 
the trouble of procuring for them what was wanted. But by little 
and little he got attached to temporal things, went too much abroad, 
and was very much relaxed from the regular discipline. The 
holy founder having frequently reprimanded him severely, and 
without effect, he threatened him for his contumacy with a severe 
illness and a miserable death. In fact, this unworthy religious 
was stricken with a horrible leprosy, which he had not patience 
to endure. He forsook the poor of Jesus Christ, his companions, 
and, letting himself fall into despair, he hanged himself, as Judas 
had done. 

St. Antoninus remarks that the life of St. Francis was in con- 
formity with that of Jesus Christ, even in the circumstance of 
having had an unworthy disciple. J He only became such by his 
depraved will ; but God in His wisdom made him serve as an 
example to show that we may be lost even in the most holy states 
of life if we cease to labor with fear and trembling for our salvation. 
Peter Rodulphus, bishop of Sinigaglia, in the Duchy of Urbino, 

* It was of the congregation of Italy which Pope Alexander III suppressed 
in 1666. The Order of the religious of the Holy Cross, of which Clair Lieu, 
near Hui, is the chief place, still exists in France and in the Low Countries. 

t This sirname was given him beca-ise he wore on his liead a sort of hat 
or capulaj-y not worn by the rest, which was called in Unibria, Capella from 
the Latin capellus, in low Latin. The religious of abbeys wore a hood or 
capularv, according to the remark in Menage in his Ktynioli\gical Pictipnary. 

t S. Anton. Chron. part. 3, tit. 24, cap. 7. 



64 S. FRA^XIS OF ASSISI. 

adds, that the loss of one of the first children of St. Francis, and 
still more that of Judas in the Apostolic college, should induce 
those who are inclined to think ill and contemptibly of a whole 
order, on account of the ill-behavior of some individual, to reform 
their method of forming their opinions.* 

Among the instructions which Francis gave to his disciples, he 
laid great stress on poverty, the practice of which might appear to 
tnem to be very^ severe. In order to render them wise herein by 
experience, and to make them feel that their subsistence depended 
on the charity of the faithful, he took them all into Assisi, and 
made them beg from door to door. This voluntary mendicity, 
which seemed new, and which had hardly been seen till then, 
drew down upon them derision, contempt, lebuffs, and angry words. 
In one place they were treated as sluggards and idlers, and turned 
away with curses ; in another they were told they were fools to 
have given up their own property to go begging from other people. 
The parents and relatives of those who were thus begging, 
asserted that their families were dishonored by these practices, and 
made loud complaints. There were, however, some who respected 
their poverty, and aided them with good will. Such was the 
feeling of the public of those times in regard to evangelical poverty, 
which differs but little from what it is in our own days. 

After this quest, Francis went to report to the bishop of Assisi 
the proceedings of his new soldiers. This worthy prelate, who 
greatly valued him, and gave him his support on all occasions, 
could not help telling him then, that he thought the sort of life 
he had chosen, in which they gave up all possessions whatsoever, 
hard and grievous. ''As to me,'' replied the holy man, "I find 
it still harder and more grievous to possess anything ; for one 
cannot take care of what one possesses without much solicitude 
and embarrassment. It gives rise to lawsuits, which must be 
undertaken ; sometimes people are obliged to take up arms to 
protect it ; and all this extinguishes the love of God and of our 
neighbor." The bishop approved of his remarks, and once more 
promised him his protection. It is true that the state of voluntary 
poverty in which a person possesses nothing whatever, has its 
inconveniences ; and where does human corruption fail to find 
such ? But it cannot be denied that the state in question is very 
favorable to salvation, since it is based upon the counsel of Jesus 
Christ ; and that, on the contrary, the possession of property is 
dangerous for salvation, since He Himself has said emphatically : 
''How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom 

of God. '-'t 

While the evangelical poor continued at Rivo Torto, the Em- 

* Rudolph. Hist. Script. Relig. lib. I, fol 67. t I.ukc xviii, 24. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 65 

peror Otho IV, who was on his way to Rome with a great train, 
in order to be consecrated and crowned by Innocent III,* passed 
by their hut.f They were too mortified to pay any attention to 
the pomp of his retinue ; but Francis ordered one of them to go 
to the emperor and tell him that all the glory which surrounded 
him would be but of short duration. The religious obeyed, and 
boldly told the emperor what he had been desired. The predic- 
tion displeased the prince, who, nevertheless, admitted from the 
event that it was well founded. J For, having violated his coro- 
nation oath, and committed various injustices towards the Church, 
he was excommunicated the following year by the same Pope ; 
and afterwards deprived of his empire, and abandoned by the 
whole world. § It is thus that the greatness of the world, so fickle 
in itself, and always put an end to by death, falls sometimes even 
before that, by misconduct, and by the just judgments of God. 

Zeal for the salvation of souls induced Francis to move his 
small troop into the Valley of Rieti. He halted at an abandoned 
hermitage on a large rock, which he thought to be a convenient 
place for entering into conversation with God, and where he 
came to pass the nights, after having been preaching and asking 
charity in the neighborhood with the other six during the day, 
principally at Poggio Bastone, a town in the vicinity. ||, 

Being at prayer one day on this rock, and i*uminating in the 
bitterness of his soul on his past years, he was assured, by a fresh 
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that his sins were forgiven him, 
which filled him with joy. We cannot doubt but that his sins 
had been remitted him at the period of his conversion, by sincere 
contrition and the sacrament of penance. But in this happy 
moment he received the assurance thereof by revelation, and he 
learnt at the same time that the remission was entire, that is to 
say, that all the temporal punishment due to his sins had been 
remitted. 

St. Bridget,^ whose revelations are sanctioned and respected by 
the Church, relates that she learnt from our Saviour that, when 
Francis retired from the world to enter on tlie way of perfection, 
he obtained from God a lively sorrow for his sins, which enabled 
him to say : ''There is nothing on earth which I am not heartily 
willing to give up ; nothing so laborious and so toilsome that I 
would not joyfully endure, nothing that I would not undertake, 
according to the strength of my body and soul, for the glory of 

* The ceremony took place 27th Sept., 1209. 

t Ik^rnard. Cor. Hist. Mediolan. part 2. V. Bellov. Hist. lib. 30. 

t (iodcf. Monac. ad aim. 1209. 

^ Chron. Foss. Nov. ad aim. 1211 and 1212. 

II In Latin, Oppidum Podii Hosconis. 

II She was a princess of the blood royal of Sweden. 



66 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

my Lord Jesus Christ ; and I will, as far as is possible, excite and 
induce all others to love God with their whole hearts, and above 
all other things.'' Such beautiful sentiments, well lived up to 
and exemplified by actions and conduct, would give us, not an 
entire assurance as to the remission of our sins, but a firm and 
well-founded confidence thereof 

The holy penitent received with this plenary indulgence the 
grace of an ecstasy, wherein, by a bright illumination from on 
high, God communicated to him what was to occur to his order. 
When he returned to join his disciples : ''Take courage, my dear 
children," he said, '' rejoice in the Lord. Be not cast down at 
the smallness of your numbers. Let not my simplicity nor yours 
alarm you, for God has shown me clearly that, by His blessing, 
He will spread this family of which He is the Father, into all 
parts of the world. I could wish to be silent on all that I have 
seen, but charitv' compels me to communicate it to you. I saw a 
great multitude coming to us to take a similar habit, and to lead 
the same life. I saw all the roads filled with men who walked 
hither, and hastened themselves ver\' much. They came in great 
numbers, French, Spaniards, Germans, English, and from almost 
all nations. The noise of such as come and go, to execute the 
orders of holy obedience, still sounds in my ears." 

So magnificent a prediction reminds us of the prophet Isaias on 
the establishment of the Church : ''Jerusalem, thou who sayest, 
I am barren ! lift up thine eyes and look all around thee. All 
this vast multitude surrenders itself up to thee. I see them 
coming from afar — some from the North, others from the West, 
others from the land of the South ; a thousand will come forth 
from the smallest among them, and from the ver}^ least a great 
people.'""^ 

The event has verified, in the eyes of the universe, the prophecy 
of the holy Patriarch. There was in a ver}^ short time a great 
number of religious ; his order extended itself to all parts with 
astonishing rapidity, and it has multiplied itself so wonderfully 
for more than five centuri'es, that it may be looked upon as a 
representation of the birth and progress of the Church. 

The disciples, greatly comforted by what they had just heard, 
and persuaded that their master had the spirit of prophecy, 
entreated him to inform them what would in future be the situation 
of his order. He explained to them in parables the good which 
would be effected by it, and at the same time the relaxations 
which would be introduced into its discipline, in order that the 
graces of God, which were to be bestowed on it, might excite 



* Isaias, chaps, xlix and Ix. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. (i*^ 

their utmost gratitude, and that the fear of their weakness and 
want of fervor might render them vigilant and humble. 

The odor of sa,nctity which issued through the environs of the 
hermitage, and the holiness of their lives, brought many persons 
to them for instruction, and to profit from the edification they 
would receive. A very worthy person, whose name was Philip 
the Long, was desirous of entering the state of evangelical poverty. 
Francis made him his seventh disciple, and he brought them all 
back to the hut at Rivo Torto. In this holy retreat he spoke to 
them frequently of the kingdom of God, of the contempt of the 
world, of renouncing of their own will, of the mortification of the 
senses, and other maxims of a spiritual life. He opened to them 
also his intention of sending them into the four parts of the world ; 
for, with the seven children which evangelical poverty and simplicity 
had given him, it was his wish to bring all the faithful to penance, 
and to generate them in some measure anew by the word of truth, 
to give them, or rather to restore them, to Jesus Christ. In fine, 
he told all his disciples openly, but with great humility, that the 
Divine Majesty had, in His wisdom, decided to employ them, and 
the companions they should aggregate to their community, to 
renew the face of the earth, by their preaching and their example, 
in order that the losses the Church had sustained by the corruption 
of morals, might be made good ; and that it, was for this purpose 
that grace had put it in their power so promptly to exercise the 
holy ministry. In order to prepare them for this mission, he made 
them the following discourse, which is worthy of being recorded 
at full length, in the words in which it has been preserved by his 
companions, to whom it was addressed : — 

' ' Let us consider, my dear brethren, what our vocation is. It 
is not only for our own salvation that God has called us by His 
mercy, but it is for the salvation of many others. It is in order 
that we should exhort all the world, more by example than by 
words, to do penance and to keep the Divine precepts. We are 
looked upon as senseless and contemptible, but let not this depress 
you ; take courage, and be confident that our Lord, who conquered 
the world, will speak efficaciously through you. Let us be cautious, 
after having given up all, not to lose the kingdom of heaven for 
a trifling gain. If we find money anywhere, let us consider it as 
valueless as the dust which we tread under our feet Let us not 
judge and despise the rich who live in luxury and wear the 
ornaments of vanity. God is their Lord, as He is ours ; He may 
call them and justify them ; we must honor them as our brethren, 
and as our masters. Lhey are our brethren, because we have all 
the same Maker ; an I ihey are our masters, because they befriend 
the good by the assistance they afford them, (jo then, and 
exhort men to do penance for the remissi(Mi of their sin^, and lor 



68 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

peace. You will find some among the faithful mild and good, 
who will receive you with pleasure and willingly listen to you. 
Others, on the contrary, people without religion, proud and violent, 
will censure you, and be very hostile to you. But make up your 
minds to bear all this with humble patience, and let nothing 
alarm you. In a very short time many learned and noble persons 
will join themselves to you, to preach to kings, to princes, and to 
nations. Be therefore patient in tribulations, fervent in prayer, 
and fearless in labor. Be unassuming in speech, be grave in 
your manner, and grateful for the favors and benefits you may 
receive. The kingdom of God, which is eternal, will be your 
reward. I entreat the one and only God, who lives and reigns in 
Three Persons, to grant it to us, as He doubtless will grant it to 
us, if we are faithful to fulfil all that we have voluntarily promised." 

This discourse filled them with fresh ardor. They threw them- 
selves at the feet of the holy man, and joyfully received the orders 
he gave them, in addressing to each one of them these words of 
the Psalmist, which he was accustomed to repeat when he gave 
those instructions which required obedience: ^ ' Cast thy care upon 
the Lord, and He shall sustain thee."* Having divided the routes 
they were to take, by forming a cross which pointed to the four 
quarters of the globe, and knowing that he was to be the model 
for his brethren, he took one side for himself with a companion, 
and sent the other six, two and two, to the other sides. Wherever 
they found a church, they prostrated and made use of this formula, 
which they had learnt from their Father : ' ' We adore Thee, O 
most holy Lord Jesus Christ ! here and in all Thy churches which 
are in the whole world, and we bless Thee for having redeemed 
the world by Thy holy cross." They had a great veneration for 
all chapels, for all crosses, and for all that had any relation to the 
worship of God. As soon as any one addressed them, they wished 
him peace, and instructed him in the way to gain it. If any one 
appeared to them to have strayed from the way of salvation, they 
endeavored to bring him back in a mild and humble manner. 
In their sermons they spoke ingenuously whatever was inspired 
them by the Holy Ghost, pointed out the true way to heaven, 
showed what were the duties of charity, and endeavored to bring 
all to love and fear the Creator and keep His holy commandments. 

When they were asked from what country they came, and to 
what profession they belonged, they replied : ''We are penitents 
come from Assisi ; " for they would not as yet give the name of 
religion to their society. There were worthy people who received 
them with pleasure ; but there were many others who disapproved 
of their habit, their institute, their discourses, imagining also that 

* Ps. liv, 25. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 69 

it was dangerous to give them house-room, and that alms ought 
not even to be given to them ; so that these poor of Jesus Christ, 
cast off on all sides, had often to pass the nights under porticos. 

Bernard and Giles went as far as Florence. A pious individual 
named Guy offered them some money, which they refused, and 
when it was wished to know from them, why, being so poor, they 
would not take it, they made this answer : ' ' We have left all 
that we possessed, according to the evangelical counsel. We have 
voluntarily embraced poverty, and we have renounced the use of 
money.'' So perfect a detachment, joined to an ardent zeal for 
the salvation of souls, and to sublime virtues, and particularly a 
patience full of meekness and charity in the midst of insults and 
injurious treatment, caused them to be looked upon in the town 
as holy personages ; they were consulted in cases of conscience, 
and dwellings were offered them. 

While these Apostolic men continued their mission, Francis, 
guided by the spirit of God, returned to the hut at Rivo Torto, 
where he received four additional disciples : Constantius, or John 
of St. Constantius; Barbarus'; Bernard ofViridant, or Vigilantius ; 
and Sylvester, who was a priest. He was the first in the order, and 
his vocation was marvellous, of which the following are the 
circumstances. 

He had sold some stones to St. Francis for the church of St. 
Damian, and had received the payment of their value. When he 
saw him preside over the distribution of the property of Bernard 
de Quintavalla, he complained of having been injured in the sale 
of the stones, and demanded a compensation. The servant of 
God, who did not choose to have any dispute with him on the 
subject, taking a bag full of money, gave him handfuls, saying : 
^^Take this for the payment you demand from me, but which I do 
not owe you." He offered him some a second time, but Sylvester 
would not take it, but left him well satisfied with what he had 
got. At night the injustice of what he had done occurred to him ; 
he conceived a sincere sorrow for it, asked pardon of God, and 
promised to restore what he had extorted to the prejudice of 
the poor. 

Nevertheless, he formed his opinion of Francis according to the 
ideas of the world, and he looked with disgust on his mode of 
life. God was pleased to will that he should be cured of this 
prejudice, which was dangerous for his salvation, and that he 
should surrender himself to the saint as one of his disciples, which 
was effected by means of a mysterious dream. During the night 
he saw a horrible dragon, which surrounded the town of Assisi, 
as if about to destroy it, together with the entire country. 
Francis immediately came forth, and from his mouth there came 
forth a golden cross, which reached up to heaven, an J the arms 



70 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

of it extended to the extremities of the earth, and its splendor put 
the dragon to flight. Having had this dream three successive 
nights, he perceived in it something divine, and he went and 
related it to P'rancfs, with the minutest exactness. This humble 
servant of Jesus Christ, far from having the least complacency at 
it, only made use of it to admire the goodness of God who grants 
such favors, and to animate himself to combat the infernal 
dragon with renovated energy, and publish the glory of the cross of 
our Saviour. But Sylvester, profiting by the grace attached to the 
vision, was not satisfied with restoring what he had unjustly 
extorted ; he resolved, moreover, to leave all that he possessed, 
to embrace poverty under the guidance of Francis, which his 
aifairs did not permit him to carry into execution till the end of 
the year 1209. St. Bonaventure says, that an authentic proof of 
the truth of the vision was the holiness of the life he led when in 
the order. In fact, he undertook so sincerely to walk in the 
footsteps of Jesus Christ, and made such vast progress in prayer, 
that, according to the account of this blessed Father, he conversed 
with God in a manner nearly similar to what is written of ]\Ioses : 
*'That the Lord spoke to him as a man is accustomed to speak 
to his friend. '' "^ 

Francis, full of the tenderest feelings for his children, was de- 
sirous of having them all assembled together. He entreated the 
Lord, who had in former times congregated the people of Israel 
dispersed among the nations, to do him a similar favor in regard 
to his small family, and his. prayer was heard, f The six who 
were out on missions returned to Assisi from various places, as if 
they had acted in concert, without having any notice given them. 
The pleasure which their return gave him was greatly increased 
by the sincere and modest recital which they made him of all that 
had passed in their travels for the glory of God and the benefit of 
their neighbor. They gave an account, with evident joy, of the 
outrages and blows they had endured and suflTered, pleased to 
have been found worthy to undergo those trials in the service of 
Jesus Christ. The last comers envied them, and were only con- 
soled by the thought and hope that a time would come when 
they would be employed in this holy warfare, and, should an 
opportunity be given them, of displaying equal courage ; the 
seniors embraced the latter, and congratulated them on having 
chosen this holy estate of life : they all exhorted each other to 
perseverance. 

Their common Father brought them up in the practice of the 
most rigorous penances, but with the utmost mildness and kindness. 
He did not impose upon them any considerable number of prayers, 

* Exod. xxxiii, 1 1. t Ps. cxlvi, 2. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 7 1 

because he was not desirous of compelling devotion, and rather 
wished that these exercises of piety should be spontaneous. He 
only then prescribed to them to say daily, for each part of the 
Divine Office, the Lord's Prayer three times, and to hear Mass, at 
which he desired they should employ themselves in meditating on 
the mystery. It is, in fact, the very best way of assisting at the 
Holy Sacrifice, and the faithful should be advised to practise it. 
But those are not to be censured who make use of vocal prayer 
during Mass, provided they do so with attention and piety in the 
very spirit of the mystery ; since there is nothing in that but what 
is good, and because, moreover, every one has not the talent of 
meditation. 

The servant of God, considering that the number of his brethren 
increased, thought seriously of forming a Rule for them, and 
having assembled the eleven, the number they then were, he said 
to them : ''I see, my dear brethren, that God, in His infinite 
goodness, proposes to extend our society ; it is therefore nec- 
essary that we should prescribe for ourselves a Rule of Life, and 
go and give an account thereof to the most holy Roman Pontiff; 
for I am persuaded that in matters of faith, and in such as concern 
Religious Orders, nothing can be done which is pure and stable 
without his consent and approbation."^ Let us then go and find 
our Mother, the Holy Roman Church. Let us make known to our 
Holy Father the Pope, what God has deigned to begin through our 
ministry, in order that we may pursue our course according to his 
will, and under his orders.'' 

A celebrated Bishop of France said, in an assembly of his 
Clergy .-{" ' ' Paul, having returned from the third heaven, came to 
see Peter, in order to give a form to all future ages, and that it 
be established forever, that, however learned or holy we may be, 
were any of us another St. Paul, we must see Peter." These 
sentiments are in entire accordance with those of St. Francis, and 
contain an important principle, from which it is easy to deduce 
the consequence. 

All the disciples applauded the proposal of their master, 
declaring that they were ready to receive the rule that he would 
give them, and to go to Rome to solicit its confirmation. Francis 



** He spoke this in 12 lo, when there was no ecclesiastical law whick 
obh^ed them to solicit this approbation. This was only required for all 
religious establislimcnts by the fourth Lateran Council, in 1215, and it was 
renewed at the General Council of Lyons in 1274. Thus the sole motives of 
the Saint on this occasion were, the purity of his faith, and the inviolable 
attachment he bore to the Holy See. 

t Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, in 1632, in his opening discourse to his 
clergy. 



72 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

betook himself to prayer, and composed,* in a plain, unadorned 
style, in twenty-three chapters, a Rule of Life, the immo\'able 
basis of which was the observance of the Gospel ; to which he added 
some exercises, which he considered necessary for the sake of 
uniformity. Besides the three vows of Poverty, Chastity, and 
Obedience, they renounced all possessions whatsoever, and they 
bound themselves to live on charity without ever receiving money. 
Clerks and laymen were alike admitted to embrace this Institute, 
under the name of Friars JMinor. There were also some regula- 
tions relative to the Divine Office, prayer, the practice of virtue, 
fasts, the bareness of the feet, preaching, and the missions, which 
will be noticed when we come to speak of the second rule ^vhich 
the Patriarch gave in the year 1223, which they keep in his Order, 
and which is nothing more than an abridgment of the first. This 
last having been read and accepted, Francis with his brethren set 
out for Rome, to which, through humility, he chose that Bernard 
de Quintavalle should lead them. 

They pursued their journey with great simplicity, only speaking 
of God and of things calculated for edification ; they often retired 
to some by-place for the purpose of praying, without troubling 
themselves where they should pass the night ; and God raised up 
persons who received them hospitably. By an efi'ect of His 
Providence, they went out of their way to go to Rieti, w^here they 
remained two days. Francis met in one of the streets an officer 
of the army, whose name w^as Angelo Tancred.f He was quite 
unknown to him, but, nevertheless, he accosted him by his name, 
and said :' ^^ Angelo, you have worn long enough your spurs, 
your sword, and your belt ; it is time that you should have a thick 
cord instead of a belt ; the Cross of Jesus Christ instead of a sword ; 
and mud and dust instead of spurs. Follow me, therefore, and I 
will make you a soldier of Jesus Christ." At the very moment 
the officer quitted all things, followed Francis, took his poor habit, 
and became his twelfth disciple, w^ho now by their number resem- 
bled the twelve Apostles, whose lives they revered. This wonderful 
conversion shows that God sometimes moves sinners by his active 
and powerful grace ; as when He said to Matthew, '' Follow me," 
and Matthew followed Him.;|; But it must also make us reflect 
that, in the ordinary course of things. He invites to repentance by 

* A Flemish chronicle states that some of the most learned of his disciples 
worked at this with him. But the oldest writers of his Life assure us that it 
was his own composition, enlightened by the Holy Ghost; and the second 
rule proves this decisively, as well as the testimony he gives of it himself in 
his will. 

t He relates himself the circumstances of his conversion in a work he 
composed on the action* of St. Francis in the Valley of Rieti. 

t Matt, ix, 10. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. '^'^ 

graces, the impressions of which upon the mind are not so active, 
and which have only progressive advances, each of which requires 
being faithfully responded to. 

The holy Patriarch continued his route, placing his entire 
confidence in God ; but the others became alarmed at their own 
simplicity, they were fearful that it would impede their design ; 
but God removed their fears by a vision which their holy Father 
had. It seemed to him that he was walking along a way where 
there was a veiy high tree. Coming near it, he went under it to 
admire it, when all on a sudden he felt himself raised up in the 
air by divine power, so that he had reached the top of the tree, 
and that from thence he easily made the tallest branches bend quite 
to the ground. The Holy Spirit pointed out to him that this was 
a presage of the favorable issue of his application to the Apostolic 
throne. This filled him with joy, and his recital of it to his 
brethren renovated their courage. 

The Bishop of Assisi, whom they found at Rome, received them 
with great kindness. The sight of them at first gave him some 
uneasiness, being apprehensive that it was their intention to leave his 
diocese, and that his people would be deprived of the examples of 
these holy men. But having learnt from them the motive of their 
journey, he promised them to use his influence in their favor, and 
gave them hopes of succeeding through the intervention of Cardinal 
John of St. Paul, Bishop of Sabina, who was his intimate friend. 

This prelate was of the Colonna family ; he was the friend of the 
poor, and of all worthy persons ; he was respected for his many 
eminent qualities, and had great authority at the Roman court. 
What the Bishop of Assisi had already told him of Francis and his 
companions, of their holy life, and of the singularity of their 
institute, had excited in him a great wish to see them. As soon 
as he had heard of their arrival, he had them brought to his 
palace, received them with great honor, and was so pleased with 
their conversation, that, after having assured them of his favor, he 
begged them to consider him from thenceforward as one of them- 
selves. And he declared himself their protector, and by his inter- 
ference he soon procured for them the friendship of the principal 
persons in the Sacred College, and particularly that of Cardinal 
Ugolini, nephew to the Pope, and subsequently Pope by the 
name of Gregory IX. 

Francis, who was anxious to get his affairs expeditiously 
brought to a termination, got himself introduced to the Pope by 
an officer of his acquaintance. The Pope, who was walking at 
that moment in a place called the Mirror,* and being deeply 



* It was so ca'led because it was an elevated spot exposed to the sun, 
commanding a beautiful prospect. 

4 



74 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

engaged respecting some difficult affairs of the Church, would 
not so much as listen to him, but repulsed him rudely as a 
stranger of no very respectable appearance. The servant of God 
humbly withdrew ; and it is recorded that he then restored to sight 
a blind man who had had his eyes torn out. The Holy Father saw 
in his sleep a palm-tree grow slowly at his feet and become a fine 
large tree."^ Pleased with what he saw, but not understanding its 
meaning, he learnt by a divine inspiration that the palm-tree 
represented the poor man whom he had ungraciously repulsed the 
day before. As soon as it was day, he gave directions that the 
poor man should be sought for. He was found in the hospital of 
St. Anthony, and came to the feet of the Pope, and laid before 
him the rule of life he followed, with energetic though humble 
solicitations for his Holiness's approval thereof 

Innocent IK, a Pontiff of great wisdom, acknowledged the 
candor and the admirable courage and zeal of the servant of God. 
He received him into his favor as one truly poor in Jesus Christ, 
and he was inclined to comply with his request ; however, he 
postponed doing so, because his mode of life appeared novel to 
some of the Cardinals, and so much beyond what human strength 
could endure ; the evil times, and the coldness of charity, making 
them think it very difficult and almost impossible for an order to 
subsist without possessing any effects whatever. 

Cardinal John of St. Paul was indignant at these obstacles, and 
he expressed himself with great v/armth to the other Cardinals in 
presence of the Pope. ' ' If you reject the prayers of this poor man, 
on the pretence that his rule is novel, and too austere, let us take^ 
care that we do not reject the Gospel itself; since the rule of which 
he solicits the approval, is in conformity with what the Gospel 
teaches ; for, to say that evangelical perfection, or the vow to 
practise it, contains anything unreasonable and impossible, is to 
blaspheme against Jesus Christ, the author of the Gospel." The 
Pope, struck with this reasoning, said to Francis : " My son, pray 
to Jesus Christ that Pie may make known His will to us, that so 
we may favor your wishes.'' The servant ofvGod retired to pray, 
and soon after returned and set forth this parable, f 

''Most Holy Father, there was a beautiful young girl, who was 
very poor, and who lived in a wilderness. The king of the 
country, who saw her, was so charmed with her beauty that he took 
her for his wife. He lived some years with her, and had children, 
who all resembled their father, and had, nevertheless, the beauty of 



* He himself relates this vision to Cardinal Ugohni, his nephew; this 
Cardinal repeated it, and St. Bonaventure pubhshed it. — Wading. 

t Three of his companions report the parable at length. St. Bonaventnre 
only gives an abridgment, but which contains the gist. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 75 

their mother ; he then came back to his court. The mother 
brought up her children with great care, and after some time said 
to them : [ My children, you are born of a great king, go and find 
him, tell him who you are, and he will give you all that is befitting 
your birth. As to myself, I will not leave this desert, and I even 
cannot.' The children went to the king's court, who, seeing their 
resemblance to himself, and that they had the beauty of their 
mother, received them with pleasure, and said to them : ' Yes, you 
are my true children, and I will support you as the children of a 
king ; for, if I have strangers in my pay, if I maintain my officers 
with what is served at my table, how much more care should I not 
have for my own children, the offspring of so beautiful a mother ? 
As I love the mother extremely, I will keep the children she has 
had by me at my court, and I will feed them at my table.' 

^'This king, most Holy Father," continued Francis, '^is our 
Lord Jesus Christ. This beautiful girl is poverty, which, being 
everywhere despised and cast off, was found in this world as in a 
desert. The King of kings coming down from heaven, and 
coming upon earth, was so enamored of her, that He married her 
in the manger. He has had several children by her in the desert 
of this world, Apostles, Anchorites, Cenobites, and many others, 
who have voluntarily embraced poverty. This good m.other sent 
them to their Father with the marks of royal poverty, as well as of 
her humility and obedience. This great King received them 
kindly, promising to maintain them, and saying to them : I who 
cause my sun to shine on the just and on sinners, who give my 
table and my treasures to pagans and to heretics, food, clothing, 
and many other things, how much more willingly shall I give to 
you what is necessary for you, — for you and all those who are born 
in the poverty of my much-cherished Spouse. 

'' It is to this celestial King, most holy Father, that this Lady, 
His spouse, sends her children whom you see here, who are not 
of a lower condition than those who came long before them. 
They do not degenerate; they have the comeliness both of their 
P'ather and their mother, since they make profession of the most 
perfect poverty. There is, therefore, no fear of their dying of 
poverty, being the children and heirs of the immortal King, born 
of a poor mother, of the image of Jesus Christ, by the virtue of the 
Holy Ghost ; and being to be brought up in the spirit of poverty 
in a very poor order. If the King of heaven promises that such 
as imitate Him shall reign with Him eternally, with how much 
more confidence ought we not to believe that He will give them 
what lie usually gives, and with so much liberality, to the good 
and to the bad." 

llic Pope listened very alien tively to the parable and to ils 
application. He was greatly pleased' with it, and had no tloubt 



76 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

but that Jesus Christ spoke by the mouth of Francis. He was 
also convinced by an interior Hght of the Holy Spirit, that in him 
a celestial vision which he had had some days before would be 
accomplished, and which, as St. Bonaventure informs us, he him- 
self related. While he slept, he saw that the Lateran Church was 
on the point of falling, when a poor and miserable man supported 
it on his shoulders. On which he exclaimed: ^* Yes truly, it is 
that man who will support the Church of Jesus Christ by his works 
and by his doctrine.'' He thus foretold the great service Francis 
and his children would render to the universal Church, which 
indeed they have rendered, and, for the last six centuries, have not 
ceased to render : this was what was prefigured by the vision ; 
although it has been remarked as something very singular, that 
the Lateran Church has been repaired, improved and ornamented 
by three Popes, the children of the blessed Patriarch, to wit, 
Nicholas IV, Sixtus IV, and Sixtus V. 

Innocent III, moved and greatly affected by these celestial 
portents, conceived for Francis a most tender friendship, which 
he preserved ever after. He approved his rule verbally, granted 
him several other favors, and promised many more. After having 
received in his own hands the profession of the founder, and of 
those who accompanied him, he directed him to preach penance 
in all parts, and to labor for the extension of the Catholic faith. 
In order to enable them to employ themselves more freely in 
preaching, and to assist the priest with greater dignity in the 
performance of the holy mysteries, he directed that the lay brethren 
who were then with them, should receive the Tonsure, and wear 
small crowns ;* he even conferred minor orders on them, and 
deacon's orders on Francis, whom he constituted Superior General 
of all the Religious of the Order of Friars Minor, present and to 
come.f Those who were present promised obedience to Francis, 
and Francis promised to obey the Pope. The pious Pontiff gave 
this new Patriarch, with paternal kindness, instructions in various 
matters which related to the well-being and strengthening of the 
Institution, and he assured him of his peculiar favor ; and finally, 

* It was a singular and personal favor, which this Pontiff and his successors 
did not extend, and which it was not necessary to extend; because, soon 
after, there w^ere in the Order a great number of clerks. Moreover, it was 
necessary to adhere to the difference established by the general law of the 
Church, and by the special disposition of the rule, between the two states of 
clerks and lay-brethren who compose the Order of Friars Minor; although 
they are both religious and members of the Order. 

t We cannot doubt but that St. Francis was a deacon. For, besides that 
his three companions who wrote his Life, state that Pope Innocent III gave 
him the deaconship ; St. Bonaventure expressly says that Francis, the Levite 
of J. C, sang the Gospel at a solemn mass : '* Celebrantes Missarum Solemnia, 
Levita Christi Francisco sacrum Evangelium decantante." 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISL 77 

having embraced each one of them, he gave them his blessing, 
and dismissed them filled with joy and consolation. 

We have witnessed these favors renewed in 1723 by Innocent 
XIII, of happy memor)^, the fifth Pope of the ancient and illustri- 
ous house of the Counts of Segni, to which Innocent III belonged. 
The Holy Father, assisted by four Cardinals, had the goodness to 
preside at the general chapter of the Order of St. Francis, held at 
Rome in the convent of Ara Coeli, making known to all Chris- 
tendom on that splendid occasion, that he looked upon the Friars 
Minor as his children, as much from family affection, as from his 
dignity of supreme Pontiff. 

The illustrious author of the ^'Variations," who quotes the abbot 
of Ursperg, says that it was to give the Church true poor, more 
denuded and more humble than the false poor of Lyons, that 
Pope Innocent III approved the institution of the Friars Minor 
assembled under Francis, who was a model of humility, and the 
wonder of the age. * The false poor, who are also known by the 
name of Vaudois,f and are placed in the number of heretics by 
Pope Lucius III, assumed the exterior of poverty and humility, 
although they had none of the spirit of poverty and humility. 
They were filled with hatred of the Church and its ministers, whom 
they reviled in their secret assemblies. In 1212 they feigned 
submission, and had the daring to go to Rome, to solicit the 
approbation of the Holy See for their sect, but they were rejected 
by the Pope, and from that time were considered as obstinate and 
incorrigible heretics. 

Conrad, abbot of Ursperg, J who was at Rome when they came 
there in 1 2 1 2 with Bernard their master, remarks that the Friars 
Minor § were very different from the false poor, practised poverty 
with sincerity, and were free from all .errors ; that they went bare- 
footed in winter, as well as in summer ; that they received no 
money, and lived wholly on alms, and -were in everything obedient 
to the Holy Apostolic See ; an obedience which will ever be a 
mark by which true virtue may be distinguished from false. 
Moreover, the strongest ties must always invariably attach the 

* Hist, des Variations, torn. 2, liv. 2, nn. S^ and 84. 

t So called from Peter Vaklo, a merchant of Lyons, born in the village of 
Vaud in Dauphin y, on the Rhone, the chief of the sect. 

t Chron. Ursperg. an. 12 12. 

§ Tlic abbot of Ursperg says in the same place, that the Friars Minor took 
at first the name of " Poor Minors," which they afterwards dropped, lest tlie 
title of poverty, which they practised, should appear ostentatious, and make 
them vainglorious. Nevertheless, no author of the Order mentions this 
name; and in tlie sixth chapter of the rule, which was approved by Pope 
Innocent III, it was directed that those who should profess it, should call 
themselves Friars Minor. The other name may have been given Ihcm by 
some, and the abbot may have thought Ihat lliey had taken it. 



J^ S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

Order of Friars Minor to the Holy See, which is the centre of all 
the faithful. The Order was born there ; is in immediate depend- 
ence on it ; has received numberless benefits from it ; and its 
blessed Patriarch engaged solemnly to obey Pope Innocent III 
and his successors. 

Francis, finding himself protected by the Almighty, and 
authorized by the Pope, acquired great confidence. He placed 
his most apostolical Order under the immediate protection of the 
holy Apostle, whose tomb he visited. He took leave of the 
Cardinals, John of St. Paul, and Ugolini, whom he made ac- 
quainted with his intentions, and to whom he expressed his great 
gratitude ; then he took his departure from Rome with his twelve 
companions, and bent his steps to the Valley of Spoleto, there to 
practise and preach the Gospel. 

On the way he conversed with them on the means of adhering 
faithfully to the rule, and relative to the manner in which they 
should strive to attain perfection, so that they might be examples 
to others. One day the conference lasted so long, that the hour 
for their meal passed by without their having stopped ; finding 
himself tired, they went a little out of the way to rest. They 
were very hungry, but they had no means of satisfying their 
craving. There then came to them a man who brought them a 
loaf, and immediately disappeared, without their having had it in 
their power to notice from what side he had come, or which way 
he had gone from them. Then, says St. Bonaventure, divine 
Providence came to the aid of the poor of Jesus Christ, when all 
human assistance failed them. They were well aware that the 
company of their holy founder procured them this favor from 
Heaven ; and the miraculous nourishment they had just received, 
which renovated the strength of their minds as well as that of 
their bodies, by the interior consolation they received from it, 
inspired them with a firm resolution never to swerve from the 
poverty to which they had devoted themselves, under any circum- 
stances whatsoever. 

Pursuing their route towards Orta, they came in the plain near 
that town to a Church which had been deserted, and where, 
having offered up their prayers, they agreed to stop, until such 
time as they should learn where it was God's intention they should 
settle themselves. From thence they went, daily, to the town to 
preach penance in the public places ; and it was with much fruit 
for the salvation of souls. The people began to feel attached to 
them ; and as they saw that on their quest they refused everything 
but what was strictly necessary, they took them many things to 
the church in which they had retired, and those considered them- 
selves fortunate who could make themselves useful to them. 
They even came in crowds to see them, and to listen to the 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 79 

discourses of these new men, whose actions and whose speech 
made them appear as persons descended from heaven. 

But Francis, who found that this concourse of people inter- 
rupted and disturbed their spiritual exercises, determined to leave 
this place. The very beauty of it decided him to do so. It was a 
most agreeable spot ; on one side there were meadows covered 
with beautiful flowers ; on the other, a thick wood, where birds 
carolled the livelong day ; near the church there was a fine 
spring, and a rivulet, whose waters murmured pleasantly around 
them ; the view of the whole plain, with that of the town beyond 
it on the heights, was all that could be wished. The holy man 
was fearful lest so delicious an abode should enervate the minds 
of his disciples, that the vigor of their intellect, so requisite for 
penitential reflections, should become relaxed when surrounded 
by objects so pleasant to the senses ; and lest that which inspired 
gladsomeness should make them lose the seriousness necessary in 
prayer, and deprive them of the spiritual delight which is felt 
therein. Thus, as a skilful general w^ho was the leader of the 
soldiers of Jesus Christ, and only followed His intentions, he 
made his little band raise their camp at the end of a fortnight, and 
resume their march towards the Valley of Spoleto. 

In the way they counselled together whether they should com- 
municate with the world, or whether they should retire into some 
solitary retreat. Francis, not choosing to trust either to his own 
lights or to those of his companions, had recourse with them to 
prayer, to ascertain what the will of God was on this head ; and 
he learnt by a revelation, St. Bonaventure says, that God had 
sent him expressly to gain souls which the devil was endeavoring 
to draw away from Jesus Christ. He therefore resolved to dedicate 
himself to this holy employment, and to live a life which should 
be useful to his neighbor rather than to himself; being likewise 
animated thereto by the example of Him of whom St. Paul said : 
''One died for all.''"^ With this view he continued his route to 
the Valley of Spoleto, and brought his brethren to the hut at Rivo 
Torto, near Assisi, where he had been before. 

One must feel surprised that St. Francis, with all the assurances 
he had of his vocation, could have doubted for a single instant 
that he had been sent by God for the spiritual service of his 
neighbors. But his doubts only had their rise in the powerful 
attractions he had for contemplation, which the tenderness of his 
conscience made him fearful of resisting, by employing himself in 
the exercises of an active life ; and it was this that lessened his 
inclination for the functions of Apostolicity ; for, according to the 
doctrine of the Fathers, and of Saint Bernard in particular, f there 



2 Cor. V, 14. I D. B 111. ill Cnnl. si rm. 41 and ()4. 



80 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

are no more worthy ministers of the Gospel than such as devote 
themselves to conversation with God in retreat, and who leave that 
retreat to preach the doctrines of salvation only when they have 
reason to think that God calls upon them so to do. Our Lord, 
who thus in his wisdom permitted that His servant should labor 
under this uncertainty, revealed to him already that he was 
destined to labor for the salvation of souls, and we shall see, further 
on, that He assured him again by other revelations. 

The hut in which these men devoted to evangelical poverty had 
retired, was so small and so confined, that, far from being able to 
lie at full length in it, there was barely room for them to sit, 
insomuch so, that their Father was obliged to assign to each his 
place by writing his name on the joists, in order that they might 
pray and take their rest without being incommoded. They remained 
some time in this miserable habitation, which might be looked 
upon more as a tomb for the living, or rather for such as were 
dead to the world ; and they bore it for the love of God, with 
more fraternal charity and gaiety than can be described. The life 
they led there was so laborious, and so poor, that frequently, 
not having a morsel of bread, necessity compelled them to search 
the countiy for herbs and roots, which they ate with satisfac- 
tion ; preferring to be nourished with tears rather than with any 
other food. 

Their most frequent exercise was prayer, and that more mental 
than vocal, because they had not as yet books for saying the 
Divine Office. A wooden cross, of moderate size, which Francis 
had fixed in the middle of the hut, round which they prayed, 
served them instead of a book. They meditated on it unceas- 
ingly, and read in it with the eyes of faith, instructed by the 
example of their saintly chief, who often discoursed to them on 
the Passion and Cross of Jesus Christ. 

However, they wished to learn from him what vocal prayers 
they ought to recite ; and he told them, as our blessed Saviour had 
told the Apostles : * This is the prayer that you will say : ^'Our 
Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name," etc. To 
which he added the Act of Adoration which he had before taught 
them : ' ^ Lord Jesus Christ, we adore Thee in all the churches in 
the whole world, and we bless Thee for having redeemed the 
world by Thy holy Cross.'' He likewise taught them to praise 
God in all things, to make use of all creatures, to raise up their 
minds to Him, to have great respect for priests, to be inviolably 
attached to the true faith, which is believed and taught by the 
Holy Roman Church, and to confess it plainly. His faithful 
disciples put in practice all that he taught them, and conformed 

* Matt, vi, 9. 



S. FRANCIS OB^ ASSISI. bl 

to all his maxims, which they did in still greater perfection after 
the marvel which we are about to relate. 

Francis being one Saturday in Assisi, in order to preach on the 
Sunday morning in the cathedral, as it was his custom to do, 
retired to a small shed in a garden belonging to the Canons of the 
Church, to pass the night in contemplation, which he usually did. 
About midnight, a fiery car of great brilliancy, on which there was 
a globe as bright as the sun, and which gave a light equal to that 
of noon, entered into the hut in which the brethren were collected, 
and moved round it three times. Some of them were watching 
and praying ; the others, who were taking a little rest, awoke. It 
is not to be expressed what was their astonishment when they 
found themselves enlightened, as well interiorly as exteriorly, by 
this penetrating light, which manifested to them the state of their 
consciences. 

St. Bonaventure remarks on the subject of this marvellous light, 
on the testimony of those who had been witnesses of it, that they 
understood that, by this luminous and burning figure, God repre- 
sented to them the lively and holy flames which illuminated their 
Father, who, though absent in the body, was present with them in 
spirit, in order that, as true Israelites, like unto Eliseus,* they 
might look up to and imitate this new Elias, whom He had 
appointed the light and guide for spiritual men. Doubtless, he 
continues, the Lord, who opened the eyes of the servant of Eliseus, 
that he might see around that Prophet, that ' ' the mountain was 
full of horses and chariots of fire, "f would also, at the prayer of 
Francis, open those of his disciples to shew them the marvel which 
was operating in their favor. 

At his return from Assisi, the Father conversed with his children 
on the prodigy which they had witnessed, and took occasion from 
it to confirm them in their vocation. He entered in detail as to 
the secret dispositions of their consciences ; he foretold them many 
circumstances relative to the increase of his Order ; he made 
known to them, in fine, so many sublime things beyond human 
ken, that they became perfectly aware that the Spirit of God rested 
fully on him, and that their greatest security would be in a con- 
formity of themselves to his life and doctrine. 

People were so greatly moved and aftectcd by his virtues and 
his discourses, that many presented themselves to join his Order, 
but he declined as yet to receive them, because the hut was too 
small for the twelve he had ; but he availed himself of the Qpportunity 
to say to these: ''My dear brethren, God, in PI is goodness, has 
made known to me that He proj^oses to increase our poor family. 
I cannot receive those who wish to join us, until I have a place 

* 4 l^^^p:- ii, II, 12, t 4 KcL,^ vi, 17. 



82 S. FRANXIS OF ASSIST. 

large enough to admit all. We require a larger habitation, as 
well as a church, where we may hear mass, say the Divine 
Office, and deposit in peace those of our society who may die. 
Let us therefore go to our Lord Bishop and the Canons. Let 
us earnestly entreat of them, for the love of God, to cede to us 
some church near the town, and to put our rising Order under 
cover in some part of their domain. If they cannot assist us, we 
will go and ask the same favor of the Religious of jNIount 
Soubazo." 

The Bishop of Assisi and the Canons had it not in their power 
to promote their views, having no church at their disposal ; but 
the Abbot of Mount Soubazo, with the consent of the community, 
granted him for himself and his brethren the chapel of St. Mary 
of the Angels, or of Portiuncula, which he had put into repair ; 
but he added this condition, that, if the Institution became more 
extended, this church should be always considered the place of 
its origin, and the chief monaster)\ 

Francis received the present, and accepted the condition with 
great thankfulness, and came and told his brethren of it, expressing 
the pleasure he felt, in having, for the first church of his Order, a 
church of the Blessed Virgin, very small and very poor, obtained 
by begging, and in which he had first taken upon himself the 
Apostolic life. 

On the same day he went to St. ]\Iary of the Angels, where a 
pious ecclesiastic of Assisi was living, whose name was Peter 
Mazancoli, to whom the care of that church had been intrusted 
after it had been repaired. He communicated to him the cession 
which the Religious of Mount Soubazo had made to his Order, 
and begged him to come and live with his brethren. 

As true piety, which is charity itself, is never jealous, and is 
delighted in what is of advantage to its neighbors, the ecclesiastic 
embraced Francis., and assured him how desirous he was to see 
the Blessed Virgin honored and praised in this place, which she 
loved, where concerts by the Angelic host were constantly heard. 
As a proof of this, he called a laborer of the vicinity, who certified 
to have several times heard in the night melodious canticles, and 
to have seen a great light come forth from the windows. 

The experience of Francis himself was an additional proof 
For, being in prayer during the following night in order to 
recommend his family to the protection of the Blessed Virgin, he 
saw on the altar, by means of a splendid light, our Saviour Jesus 
Christ, His holy ^lother, and a multitude of angels, w^ho cast 
upon him looks of great benignity. He adored, and recited 
these words : ' ' O most holy Lord, King of heaven. Redeemer of 
the world, sweet Love ! and thou, O Queen of angels ! by what 
excess of goodness do you come down from heaven into this small 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 83 

and poor chapel?" He immediately heard this reply: ^^I am 
come with my Mother to settle you and yours in this place, which 
is very dear to us." All then disappeared, and Francis exclaimed 
''Truly this place is holy, w^hich ought to be inhabited by angels, 
rather than by men. As long as I possibly can, I will not leave 
it ; it shall be, for me and mine, an eternal monument of the 
goodness of God ! " It became, in fact, a great object of devotion 
and veneration for himself and his brethren, particularly after it 
had been revealed to him that, amxOng all the temples consecrated 
under the name of the Blessed Virgin, this w^as the one for Vvdiich 
she had the greatest attachment. 

At break of day he sent for the other religious hy his com- 
panions, with directions to bring with them the few pieces of 
furniture which they had in the hut at Rivo Torto, in order to 
place them in the house adjoining the church of St. Mary of the 
Angels, which the pious ecclesiastic willmgly gave up to them. 

He communicated to the new guests the sanctity of the place 
they were about to inhabit, and recommended them to live therein 
holily, never ceasing to praise the Lord. Then he said to them : 
''You must be very grateful to the Benedictine Fathers for the 
benefit they have conferred upon us. They have consecrated all 
the habitations we shall hereafter have, by this house of God, 
which is the model of the poverty w^hich must be observed in all 
the houses of our Order, and the precious germ of the holiness 
which we must seek for in it." 

But, in order to show that he did not live there as on a property 
wholly his, as w^ell as for a mark of his gratitude to his benefactors, 
he took care to have taken yearly to the abbey of Mount Soubazo, 
as a ground-rent, a basket of fish, a species of mullet, which is 
taken in quantities in the river Asi, or Chiascio, near the church 
of St. Mary of the Angels. The Friars Minor have always cherished 
the feelings of the blessed Patriarch for the Order of St. Benedict. 
They will ever manifest, with sincerest gratitude, that it is to this 
great Order, so ancient and so celebrated in the Church, that they 
are indebted for their first establishment, and for many other 
benefits. 



4 



THE LIFE 



OF 



SAINT FEANCIS OF ASSISI. 



BOOK IL 



A. D. I2I0. 

It was therefore in the small church of St. Mary of the Angels, 
or of Portiuncula,* that Francis laid the foundations of the Order 
of Friars Minor, which spread over the whole earth with wonderful 
rapidity. This holy place was, as it were, the cradle of the Institute, 
and the nursery of the houses of the religious ; the source which 
supplied a great river, which was divided into various channels ; 
the citadel from whence numerous brave warriors went forth to 
encounter the enemies of the Church ; the school which has 
produced a very great number of saints, and a multitude of learned 
men, whose doctrine and piety have been equally celebrated. 

The new habitation, less confined than the hut of Rivo Torto, 
enabled the Patriarch to receive the postulants who had before 
presented themselves ; among whom may be noticed, Leo, Rufino, 
Masseo of Marigan, and Juniper : — Leo, whom Francis chose for 
his confessor and secretary, and whom he generally called Pecorella 
Di Dio (the sheep of God), on account of his admirable candor. 

* Some persons have imagined that the Saint had given the name of 
Portiuncula to this church, as to the small part he had wished for, and had 
received for the shelter of his little flock ; it is even recorded in the first lesson 
of the second Nocturn of the festival of the Portiuncula. However, St. 
Bonavcnture expressly says that this chapel was called Portiuncula when 
St. Francis undertook to put it in repair. Both the one aixl the other are 
true. It had this name because of some portions of the land l)clonging to the 
Benedictines, as has been remarked, from the ancient legend ; and St. Francis 
confirmed this name to it in consec[uence not only of the smallness of their 
numbers when it was given to them, but also from the title of Minors, which 
he gave his brethren, in order that they might always be the lowly and humble 
flock ncc.trdiiig to tlic ( 'i(>s])cl. 



S6 S. ERANCIS OF ASSISI. 

Riifino, of whom he said : "1 learnt, by a revelation, that he is one 
of the most faithful and of the most pure souls that there was in 
the world, and I should have no fear of giving him, though in a 
mortal body, the title of Saint, since he is already canonized in 
heaven." Masseo, whom he often sent, instead of going himself, 
to converse with persons of piety, in order not to be interrupted 
in his own meditations, because this religious added great 
mildness and suavit}' of manner to a rare talent of speaking about 
heavenly things. Juniper, whom he found so valuable for his 
evangelical simplicit}', for his contempt of himself, and for his 
great desire to attract upon himself the contempt of the world, that, 
alluding to his name, he used to say good-humoredly : ''I wish 
to God we had a wood full of such Junipers. '"' 

The charitable father had all his children in his heart, and he 
brought them up with a tenderness truly maternal. He was the 
first to go from door to door, to ask charity to provide for their 
w^ants : sometimes he even went alone, to spare them the morti- 
fication of begging, under the impression that they might still 
retain the prejudices of the world on this head. But the weakness 
of his frame not admitting of his providing for all, and his religious 
being bound to subsist on charit}' alone, he resolved to teach 
them to solicit it for the love of God, and he made them the 
following exhortation, which they have recorded : — 

* ' My yery dear brethren and well-beloved children, be not 
ashamed of soliciting alms, since our Lord became poor in this 
world for the love of us, and that, following His example, we have 
chosen this state of the most perfect povert}'. For, if we have made 
this choice for the love of Jesus Christ, we must not blush at 
begging in our qualit}' of poor. Heirs of the kingdom of God 
should not blush at what is a pledge of their heirship. Yes, we 
are heirs of heaven ; this is a benefit which our Lord has obtained 
for us, to which He has given us a right, as He has to all those 
who choose to live in a state of holy poverty. I make known to 
you as a truth, that a great number of the most noble of the age 
will become members of the Order, who will consider it an honor 
to solicit alms, and who will look upon it as a favor to be per- 
mitted to do so. You, therefore, who are the ver}^ first of the 
Order, do this cheerfully ; do not refuse to practise what you will 
have to teach these saintly personages. Go, then, and with the 
blessing of God solicit alms, full of confidence and joy, more 
than would be felt by him who should ofi'er a hundred for one. 
For it is the love of God you offer in asking, when you say, ^ For 
the love of God, bestow your charity on me ; ' and in comparison 
with this divine love, heaven and earth are as nothing. " 

To mitigate the reluctance still felt by some of them, he brought 
forward the two followini? motives: ^'Thc bread which holv 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 8 J 

poverty causes to be collected from door to door, is the bread of 
Angels, because it is the good Angels who inspire the faithful to 
bestow it for the love of God. It is thus that the words of the 
Prophet,"^ 'Man ate the bread of Angels, 'f are fulfilled in these 
holy poor ones. God has given the Friars Minor to the world in 
these latter times, that the elect may have it in their power to 
practise what will cause them to be glorified by the Supreme 
Judge, when He will address them in these mellifluous w^ords : 
* What you did to one of these, the least of My brethren, you did 
it to Me/J It is pleasing to solicit charity in the capacity of a 
Friar Minor, whom our Master seemed to designate expressly by 
the appellation, ' the least of My brethren.' "§ 

The disciples, persuaded and moved by this appeal, went of 
their own accord to quest in the neighboring places, to get the 
better of the natural repugnance they felt to it. At »their return 
they presented themselves to their father with satisfied counte- 
nances, which delighted him, and by a holy emulation they were 
proud of the things they had collected for the love of God. One 
of them returning one day with much cheerfulness, singing loudly 
the praises of the great Benefactor of men, Francis took from him 
the weighty wallet, which was full of bits of bread, placed it on 
his own shoulders, kissed the shoulders of him who had carried 
it, and came and said publicly : ''So it is that I wish my brethren 
to go always on the quest, and return from it : ever gay, and 
glorifying God for all the good which He does in our favor." 

The blessed founder employed himself day and night unceas- 
ingly in inspiring them with the love and practice of the most 
sublime virtues ; he warned and exhorted each one of them in 
particular, and he made discourses to them when collected, on 
the most essential heads ; and this again he enforced by his own 
good example ; knowing that they were called by God to train up 
those who would embrace his rule in the difi'erent parts of the 
earth, and that on the instruction of the one depended that of the 
others. What he taught them on the subject of poverty, morti- 
fication, obedience, prayer, humility, and generally on all the 
means of acquiring religious perfection, will be noticed at the end 
of the Life. 

Under such a master, with the powerful assistance which they 

* Ps. Ixxvii, 29. 

t This is literally understood of the manna which was prepared by the 
Angels ; and, in the figurative sense, cf the most holy Eucharist, which is 
called the Bread of Angels. The Saint in this place makes the application. 

t Matt. XXV, 40. 

^ lie alludes in this to the name of Friars Minor, whicli is contained in 
these words of Jesus Christ: '* Quamdiu non fecistis uni di' minorihus his, 
iiec Mihi f(H:istis." 



88 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

received from Heaven, they made in a short time such consider- 
able progress, that the latest comers .were not less competent for 
the exercise of the evangelical ministry than the first. Altogether 
animated with the same spirit, watching, fasting, praying, pene- 
trated with the fear of God, full of holy desires, they resembled in 
a great degree the primitive Church confined in the supper-room. 
Francis, who was perfectly acquainted with their most inward 
feelings, and with the intentions of Divine Providence, thought 
that he ought not to delay sending them forth on missions ; 
according to the idea of St. Chrysostom,* who says that the 
Apostles, who were commissioned to labor in the conversion of 
the world, were necessarily separated, and that it would have been 
very prejudicial to the interests of the universe had they kept 
together longer. 

But, as he had not yet heard them preach, he desired prudently 
to judge by his own experience of their respective talents. Having 
assembled them together, he desired Bernard de Quintavalle to 
speak on the mysteries of religion. He immediately obeyed, and 
spoke beautifully on the several points. Peter of Catania was 
directed to set forth the greatness of God, which he did with as 
much facility and learning as if he had been long perfect in the 
art of preaching. A third was called upon to give an exhortation 
on avoiding sin, and practising virtue, which he complied with in 
powerful language. In short, they all handled the subjects which 
were allotted to them, so as plainly to show that wisdom was 
given to them from on high. 

After they had made this essay in preaching, or rather this 
masterpiece of eloquence, Jesus Christ, who had inspired their 
thoughts and words, appeared in the midst of them in the form of 
a very beautiful young man, and gave His blessing to each of 
them successively, with wonderful benignity. This astonishing 
vision threw them into a rapturous transport ; after which, Francis 
addressed them as follows : 

^'Aly brethren, and dear children, give abundant thanks to 
God most powerful, and to His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, for 
having deigned to have communicated celestial treasures through 
the speeches of the most simple of men ; for it is God who causes 
infants to speak, who opens the mouths of little children, and 
makes the tongues of the most ignorant eloquent : His goodness 
renders Him compassionate to the world, which is loaded with 
crime. He has resolved to warn men of the woes into which they 
are plunging themselves ; and in order to root out from amongst 
them the works of the devil, which are sins,*j" He has chosen vile 



* S. Chrysost. Homil. 87, in Joan. circ. med. 
t I John, iii, 8. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 89 

and despicable preachers,* so that no one shall have reason to 
glorify himself before Him, and that eveiy one shall acknowledge 
that all the good which is done comes from Him. Although 
there are few among you of whom it can be said that they have 
worldly wisdom, or are powerful or noble, yet it is you whom the 
Lord hath chosen for this important work. It is His will that you 
should go into all parts to honor Him by your actions and by 
your words, bringing to His fear and to His love such as have 
strayed into evil ways. 

'' Prepare yourselves therefore to set forth; gird your loins f 
according to the commands of Jesus Christ ; be courageous ; put 
on the armor of faith ; J be devoted to the service of the Gospel ; 
always prepared to let yourselves be carried away as clouds, 
whithersoever the Spirit of God may direct you, by the guidance 
of obedience, to shed the dew of the divine word on the dry and 
arid soil of hardened hearts. § For our Lord has not called you 
into this institute to think of nothing but saving your own souls 
quietly, without any fatigue, in the hearts of your country, and in 
the bosom of your families; His intention is, that you carry His 
name and His faith into the nations, and before the kings of the 
earth. || Now, lest we should appear to be slow in carrying His 
will into execution, we will divide Italy amongst us ; and soon 
after, we will make other missions into more distant countries." 

To this discourse the disciples replied, that they were prepared 
for everything; that, having renounced their own will, they only 
waited the order to commence the journey ; and that the distrust 
they had of themselves in consequence of their sirnplicity, was 
counterbalanced by the confidence they had in the assistance of 
the Almighty, which animated them. 

The next morning Francis divided Italy among them, taking 
Tuscany for himself with Sylvester, who was the first priest in his 
Order, so that he might, by this arrangement, be at the shortest 
distance from St. Mary of the Angels, where he left some of the 
brethren to guide the novices whom he should send there. 

Two reasons induced him to make his beginning in Italy. The 
first was, that it appeared to him to be just that the divine Word 
should be first spread in that country, of which the preachers were 
natives, as the Apostles had done in regard to- the Jews. The 
second was, that he might judge from what they should effect 
among the Italians, what they were capable of effecting elsewhere : 
in which his judgment is to be admired. 

He could not doubt but that the vocation of his children came 
from God ; nevertheless, he used all the precautions which prudence 

** I Cor. i. 28, 29, and 26. t Luke xii, 35. t Kplios. vi, ii, 13, 16. 
j Isaias Ix, 8. l|AcLs ix, 15. 



Tl 



90 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 



dictated, because he knew that the Lord, who acts according to 
His good pleasure by secret and supernatural means, chooses that 
men on their part should pursue the ordinary course in all that 
depends on them. This is a sure ground-work, which is not only 
a rule in all that relates to salvation, but also is applicable to the 
affairs of this life. 

The man of God, having commenced his route towards Tuscany, 
passed through Perugia, where he preached in the great Square, 
as is customary in Italy. Some young gentlemen, of the first 
families of the place, came also there for the exercises of the tourna- 
ment, and made so much noise that the preacher could be no longer 
heard. As they continued their lance exercises, notwithstanding 
the remonstrance of the people, the Saint, turning to the side in 
which they were, addressed them in the following words with 
great animation : — 

' ' Pay attention, and learn what the Lord declares to you through 
me, who am His servant, and do not imagine to satisfy yourselves 
by saying. This is only a man from Assisi who speaks to you.'' 
(A precaution he took because Perugia anc^ Assisi, neighboring 
towns, were always opposed to each other. ) ''What I tell you, I dc 
not tell you as man. God has raised you above all the adjacent 
countries ; in gratitude for which you should humble yourselves, 
not merely in His eyes, but before all the world. But, on the 
contrary, your strength and your glory have so inflamed youi 
pride, that you have pillaged and laid waste all that surrounds 
you, and you have killed no inconsiderable number. For which 
reason I declare to you that, unless you be speedily converted, and 
repair the damage you have done, the Lord, who suffers no evil 
to be committed with impunity, will take revenge on your sins. 
In order to create in you the greater dismay, He will suffer }'ou to 
rise up one against the other, to excite a popular commotion, and 
to do yourselves much greater injur}^ than any your neighbors 
could do to you." 

He remained some time at Perugia, where they soon saw the 
effect of his threats. The nobles were irritated against the 
plebeians, the clergy joined the party of the nobles, and they came 
to blows ; the people, who were the strongest, drove the others 
out of the town. The discomfited party, in order to be revenged, 
laid waste everything in the country which belonged to the 
people ; who, by way of reprisals, pillaged the houses of the 
nobles, and massacred their servants and even their children. 
Indeed the disaster was so great, that, according to the prediction, 
armed neighbors could not have caused any greater. 

The Perugians having thus, at their cost, discovered the holiness 
of the preacher, wished to retain him in their city, and entreated 
him to choose what place he pleased for his abode. ^Tany young 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 9 1 

persons of pure morals joined his Order ; one among others, whose 
vocation was very singular. As he was walking one day out of 
the town, his mind intent upon his wish to consecrate himself to 
God. Jesus Christ appeared to him, and said : ''Man of desires, 
if you hope to be in the enjoyment of what you wish for, and to 
effect your salvation, take a religious habit and follow Me.'' He 
immediately asked into what Order he should enter. Our Lord 
answered him : ''Join the new Order of Francis of Assisi.'' He 
then made this further inquiry : " Lord, when I shall have joined 
that Order, what mode of life shall I follow, to be more agreeable 
to Thee ? '* and this is the answer he received : ' ' Lead the usual 
life ; enter into no particular intimacies with your brethren ; take 
no notice of the defects of others, and form no opinion to their 
disadvantage.'' These are admirable means for living holily and 
peaceably in a community. The young man came and offered 
himself to Francis, who knew that Jesus Christ had sent him, and 
admitted him immediately, and gave him the name of Brother 
Humble, on account of the humility he found in his heart. 

At Cortona, to v/hich place he next took the word of God, 
there was another young man named Guy, who, moved by his 
preaching, had invited him to dniner : "This young man," said 
Francis, "will enter our militia to-day, and will sanctify himself 
in this town." He was the oldest of his family, brought up in 
study and in virtue, and the excellence of whose conduct exceeded 
even that of his education. He frequented the churches and the 
sacraments, he gave great alms, and visited the sick to assist them ; 
he wore a hair-shirt, and chastised his body severely, to enable 
him to preserve his virginal purity, which he had made a vow 
to do. After the dinner, he knelt down and petitioned for the 
habit of a Friar Minor, which he received in the principal church 
of the town, in the presence of a numerous concourse of people, 
after having first fulfilled two conditions which the father had 
prescribed for him : The first was, to give to the poor all that he 
had inherited by his right of primogeniture ; the second was, to 
renounce all the rest of his fortune. It was in the same town 
that he lived a most holy life,* as had been foretold, honored by 
many miracles ; and by permission of the Floly See, he is publicly 
invoked. 

The love of prayer and retirement made Francis wish to find in 
the neighborhood of Cortona a fit place for building a house 
suitable for the education of his novices. Guy pointed one out to 
him in the valley, near a place called Celles. Tiiis location greatly 
pleased him, because it was solitary ; and by the aid of some pious 
persons, he built a very poor dwelling, which he soon filled with 



His Life is ^ivci\ on the 12th of fiinc, bv the roiiliiiualois o{' BoUandiis. 



92 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

novices, and where he received the celebrated Brother EHas, of 
whom we shall have much to say hereafter. 

Having spent nearly two months in preaching at Cortona, and 
in forming his novices at the convent of Celles, he was inspired to 
pass over to a desert island in the middle of the lake of Perugia. 
Lent was drawing near. He recommended the care of the house 
to Sylvester, without letting him know what his ow^n intention 
was ; and on Ash-Wednesday he caused himself to be taken to 
the island by a boatman, having with him only t^vo loaves of 
bread. The boatman was a worthy man and his friend, and he 
begged him not to tell any one where he w^as, and only come to 
take him back on the Wednesday of Holy- Week. 

Having made himself there a sort of hut in one of the thickets, 
to preserve himself from the cold, he had his intercourse with 
God alone during two and fort}^ days ; and his fast was so rigorous, 
that of the two loaves he brought with him he only ate half a one. 
In the ecclesiastical history "^ we meet with, examples of these 
miraculous fasts, of which the holy Fathers have had an assured 
knowledge, and which the weakness of human nature was enabled 
to sustain by virtue of the Spirit of God, which supported them. 
The fruit which they were to derive from it, was to animate the 
faithful to keep, with as much exactness as was in their power, the 
fasts prescribed by the Church, and particularly the fast of Lent, 
which many principal motives of religion render so venerable, f 

On the Wednesday in Holy- Week, the boatman w^ent to fetch 
Francis and bring him back to Cortona. On the passage the 
Saint stilled a storm, by making the sign of the cross on the 
waves ; and as soon as he had landed he went to the convent at 
Celles, where he passed the remainder of the Holy- Week with his 
brethren. His confidant did not think it necessar}^ to keep the 
secret of the man^ellous fast. The rumor spread, and many 
persons went to the island to see and venerate the hut in which 
he had lived. The miracles which were operated there by the 
merits of the Saint, induced some persons to build there ; and 
gradually a small town arose, where later a church was built, with 
a convent of his Order, near a spring at which he had drunk, 
where sick were afterwards cured. 

After the Easter solemnities, he placed a superior in the convent; 
then having tenderly embraced the religious, he made the sign of 
the cross on them, and separated himself from them to go to 
Arezzo. 

This town was at that time greatly agitated by intestine dissen- 
sions, which were likely to bring on its entire ruin. Francis being 

* S. Greg. Naz. Carm. 47. Theodoret. Rel. Hist. cap. 26. 

tS. Hierom. Epist. 21, ad Marcell. S. Aug. Epist. 36, ad Caful. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 93 

h)dged in the suburbs, where he had been hospitably received, saw 
over the town, with the penetrating sight which the Almighty had 
given him, devils who excited the citizens to massacre each other, 
and who appeared to be transported with joy. To put these evil 
spirits to flight, he sent Sylvester, as his herald, and gave him this 
command : ^'Go to the gate of the town, and standing before it, 
order the devils, in the name of the Almighty God, and in virtue 
of obedience, instantly to retire/' Sylvester, who was a man of 
extraordinary simplicity, praising God beforehand for what was 
about to happen, went as fast as possible, and cried out with all his 
might : ''AH you devils who are here, begone, go far from hence. 
It is in the name of God and of His servant, Francis, that I call 
upon you to go. " At this very moment the citizens, who were on 
the point of flying to arms, came to an understanding on the points 
which were in dispute, and peace was restored to the town. On 
which St. Bonaventure remarks, that the obedience and humility 
of Francis had obtained for him that absolute power over the proud 
spirits who fear and fly from the sublime virtue of the humble. 

It became known in Arezzo who the author was of so sudden a 
reconciliation, because the words which had been spoken by 
Sylvester had been heard. Francis was sought for and brought 
into the town in a sort of triumph, notwithstanding the efforts he 
made to escape from this honor. He preached in the great 
Square on the love of peace, and on the means of preserving it ; 
pointing out to them that dissensions and quarrels came from, and 
are promoted by, the evil spirit. The magistrates entertained him 
at the town-house, and had a convent built for his Order according 
to his wishes, that is to say, according to holy poverty ; in which 
he placed some worthy subjects who had presented themselves to 
him. A child was brought to him who was quite distorted ; he 
took it into his arms, and it forthwith became straight. This 
miracle, and several others which he performed during his stay, 
proved that God had given him as much power over bodily 
complaints as over the evil spirits. 

From Arrezo he bent his steps to Florence, preaching with great 
success throughout the route. The lords of Ganghereto received 
him with great respect, and were so pleased with the holiness of 
his life, that they begged his acceptance of a field and a small 
wood for the service of his religious. He set up a hut there, 
where his infirmities compelled him to remain some time. After 
preaching and prayer, to which he daily gave some time, one 
after the other, he employed himself in building a small wall 
round a spring of w^ater which he got miraculously, and which still 
flows, the water of which God was pleased to render sal utaiy. 

As soon as his health was in some degree restored, he continued 
his way towards Florence, where he went to lodge in the hospital. 



94 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

The following day he preached in the town, and was listened to 
as a Saint. They gave him a small dwelling near the church of 
St. Gall, about five hundred paces from the city, in which he 
received several novices, who rendered themselves illustrious by 
their exalted virtues ; among whom John Parent is particularly 
noticed, who was a native of Carmignano, near Pistoia, a lawyer 
of great note, first magistrate of Fescennia, or Citta Castellana, 
who, for his distinguished merit, had had granted to him the 
rights and privileges of Roman citizens. 

His conversion was attributable to a veiy peculiar circumstance. 
As he was walking one evening in the environs of the town, he 
saw a swineherd who was endeavoring to drive his pigs into a 
stable, and who, being in a great passion because, instead of going 
in, they dispersed themselves in all directions, called out to them 
in his anger : ''Swine, get into this stable as judges get into hell.'' 
He had scarcely said the words, when these animals went quietly 
in. That which might have appeared to this magistrate nothing 
but an impertinence, struck him, and made so strong an impres- 
sion upon him, that, having seriously reflected on the dangers 
incurred by a judge (which are indeed very great) as to salvation, 
he threw up his magistracy, and retired to Florence. There he 
saw Francis, examined his conduct, admired his virtues, and felt 
himself called by God to imitate him. An only son of his had 
a similar vocation. The father and the son divided their all among 
the poor, and became disciples of the Saint,* whose prophecy 
began thus to be fulfilled : that the wise and learned of the world 
would enter into his Order. 

Such a conversion sets before us this important truth : that the 
Spirit breatheth where He will ; f that the Lord gives His grace 
sometimes to what is most common, most simple, and even most 
base, according to the notions of the world ; that it is necessary to 
be attentive, that we may not receive the grace of God in vain ; | 
and that, little as it may seem at first, by being carefully attended 
to, it may have the most beneficial results. Not to be thankful 
for it, to neglect it, to resist it, is a heavy present loss, and running 
the risk of losing more. 

While Francis was at St. Gall, he foretold a thing which the 
event justified a few years afterwards. Three men at Florence 
brought each a child to receive his blessing. As soon as he was 
apprised of it, he went into the garden and gathered five figs ; 

* John Parent shone in the Order of wS. Francis, by the hoHness of his life, 
and by the splendor of his talents. He was elected General of the Order i^ 
the year 1230, and governed it with great prudence. It has been noticed 
that he made all his visitations on foot and barefooted, in many parts of 
Europe. — Wading ad ann. 121 1, no. 21. 

t Joan, iii, 8. t 2 Cor. vi, I. 



4 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 95 

then he came in, and gave one to the first of the children, one to 
the second, and three to the third, to whom he addressed the 
following words : '' You will be my dear child." That one, when 
he had attained the proper age, took the habit of the Friars Minor, 
and was called Brother Angel, which he deserved by his angelic 
life, which was the fruit of his great devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 
from whom he received very marked favors. 

From the month of October, 121 1, to the beginning of the 
year 12 12, the man of God visited the towns of Pescia, Pisa, San 
Miniato, Sarthiano, Cetona, and other places in Tuscany, where 
he made many wonderful conversions, and left some of his brethren 
to continue the work of God. We shall relate, at the end of his 
Life, the great honors which were publicly shown him, — honors 
which he received with the greatest humility, and yet with the 
most generous sentiments. 

The brethren whom he had dispersed in the other provinces of 
Italy, and who partook of his apostolic spirit, labored on their part 
with great zeal and success. They founded many establishments, 
and formed many disciples, whom they sent to the holy founder 
in order to their receiving the habit of the Order from him. 

They mention particularly what happened at Bologna to Bernard 
de Quintavalle. As soon as he made his appearance, his extra- 
oniinary and very poor habit made him looked upon as a person 
not worthy of notice. He went to the great Square in order to 
preach the truth of salvation, and he went there several times 
wuhout having collected an audience. Children and idle people 
sui rounded him ; some pulled him by the hood, others threw mud 
and stones at him ; and he was daily assailed with fresh outrages, 
which he bore with exemplary patience. 

A lawyer, having noticed this, made his reflections on it, and it 
occurred to him that his conduct might be attributed to virtue rather 
than insensibility. One day, then, he came up to Bernard and 
asked him who he was, and what he had come to do at Bologna. 
''You will know who I am," replied Bernard, ''if you will take 
the trouble to read what I now offer you." It was the Rule of 
Francis, of which he had a copy, and which he placed in his hand. 
The lawyer having read it with astonishment, said to those who 
accomi)anied him : "I own I have never seen anything so perfect 
or so heroic as this mode of life. Those who ill-use this man are 
very criminal ; he ought, on the contrary, to be loaded witli 
honors, as a special friend of God." Then, addressing himself to 
Bernard, he said : "If you will follow me, I will give you a place 
in which you may serve the Lord." Bernard, having accepted the 
offer, ^vas taken to the house of his benefactor, who received him 
with alFcction, and gave him a house, which he furnished with 
everything necessary, and promised to protect him and his com- 



96 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

panions. After this, Bernard was so highly respected in Bologna, 
that people considered themselves fortunate if they could get near 
him, touch him, or even see him. This truly humbly man, 
mortified at the honor which was shown him, went to Francis, 
and said : ''My Father, all is in good order in Bologna. But 
send any other religious thither rather than me, who may remain 
there ; for I have no longer any hopes of being useful there : it is 
even to be feared that I may lose myself on account of the great 
honors I receive/' This prudent mistrust of himself was as pleas- 
ing to the holy Father as the affection of the Bolognese, to which 
he responded by sending them several of his disciples, who 
subsequently spread the Order throughout all Romagna. 

The holy Patriarch returned some time before Lent to St. Mary 
of the Angels, where his first care was to examine rigidly whether 
in his evangelical progress some worldly dust might not have 
adhered to him in consequence of his communications with 
seculars ; and in those instances in which the extreme delicacy 
of his conscience gave him room for self-reproach, he purified 
himself by very^ severe penitential obseiTances. He then applied 
himself carefully to the formation of the novices, whom he had 
collected from various places, and he preached during the Lent at 
Assisi. 

His discourses, backed by his example, and his prayers and 
exhortations, animated by an ardent zeal, vv^ere so efficacious, that 
in the town and county of Assisi a very great number of persons 
was converted, and the fire of divine love was kindled in every 
heart. ''Then," says St. Bonaventure, using the words of the 
Holy Scriptures, "the vine of the Lord spread its branches* and 
bore flowers of a most agreeable odor, and produced fruits of glory 
in abundance. " There were many young girls who made vows of 
perpetual virginity ; amongst whom, says the same holy doctor, the 
Blessed Clare appeared as the most beautiful plant in the garden 
of the celestial Spouse, and as a star more brilliant than all the 
others. 

This illustrious maiden was the daughter of a rich and noble 
family of Assisi. f The Cavaliere Favorine, or Favarone, her 
father, was descended from the ancient and powerful houses of Scifi 
and Fiumi. Her mother, of equal high birth and exalted piety, 
was called Hortulana. She had the talent of joining the care of her 
household to the practice of good works, and to regulate her time 
so well, that she found enough in which to visit, with the consent 
of her husband, many holy places : she even made a pilgrimage 



* Is. xxvii, 6, and xxxv, 2 ; Eccl. xxiv, 23. 

t It has been said that about the year 1487 there were still at Assisi some 
descendants of the family of St. Clare. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISE. 97 

to the Holy Land. If this practice is no longer usual in these 
days, particularly as regards distant countries, it arises from the 
circumstances of the times being very different, and from there 
having been a great change in manners. But Christian piety 
does not permit us altogether to condemn (independently of 
abuses) voyages^ or journeys of devotion, since they are sanctioned 
by the examples of the Saints, have been approved by the Fathers 
of the Church, and since at one time they were directed as 
sacramental penances for certain sinners. "^^ 

Hortulana had three daughters, Clare, Agnes, Beatrix. Being 
about to be confined of the first, and praying to God before a 
crucifix in a church for a safe delivery, she. heard a voice, which 
said to her: ''Woman, fear not, thou wilt bring forth, without 
danger, a light which will illuminate a vast space.'' This was the 
reason she gave the name of Clare to the daughter to whom she 
gave birth, in the hopes of seeing the accomplishment of what it 
might signify. 

Indeed, from her earliest years, her virtue shone as an Aurora, 
the prognostication of a fine day. She received with docility the 
instructions of her mother, and her whole conduct was the fruit 
thereof; the exercise of prayer became familiar to her; she every 
day recited the Lord's Prayer a number of times, which she 
marked with small stones, f in order to be exact in the daily 
number she had assigned for herself In that she resembled the 
solitary of the desert of Seethe, J who kept an account of the number 
of his prayers, offering them to God three hundred times each 
day. Naturally tender and compassionate to the poor, she aided 
them voluntarily, and the opulence of her family enabled her to 
assist them abundantly. But, in order to render her charities 
more agreeable to God, she sent to the poor, by confidential 
persons, the nicest eatables which were served to herself The 
love of God, with which these holy practices inflamed her heart, 
inspired her with a hatred of her own body, and showed her the 
vanity of all the things of this world. Under her own costly 
dresses, which her situation in society obliged her to wear, she 
constantly had a hair-shirt ; and she cleverly refused a proposal of 
marriage which her parents wished her to accept, recommending 



* vScc P. Morin. Comment. Hist, de Poenit. 

t ricrctics only, and bad Catholics can disapprove of the order and 
arrangement adopted for private and public j^rayers. The Church has 
rey^ulated the Divine Office in number and time, and she causes the same 
words to be frequently repealed to honor God and His Saints. See on this 
sul)ject the learned Mabillon, when treating of the Crown and of tJie Rosary 
or lieads {Chapelct) of the IMessed Viri;in.— Act. SS. Ord. S. Bened. sec. q, 
Prrefet. no. 125, et secj. And Bellarmin, de Cultu Snnctorum lib. 3, cap. 8. 

} Hist. J.ausiuc. cap. 23. 

5 



93 S. FRAN'CIS OF ASSIST. 

to Go J her virginity, which she intended to preserve in entire 
purity. Akhough she was at that time confined in the bosom of 
her fimily, and solely intent on sanctifying herself in secret before 
the eyes of God, her virtue became the subject of admiration, 
without her being conscious of it, and drew down upon her the 
esteem and praise of the whole town. 

The great celebrity which the sanctity of Francis gained in the 
world, could not be unknown to the young Clare. Aware that 
this wonderful man renewed a perfection in the earth which was 
almost forgotten, she wished much to see him and to have con- 
versation with him. Francis also, having heard the reputation of 
Clare's virtues, had an equal desire to communicate with her, that 
he might tear her from the world and present her to Jesus Christ 
They saw and visited each other several times. Clare went to St. 
Mary of the Angels with a virtuous lady, a relation of hers, whose 
name was Bona Guelfuccii ; Francis also came to see her, but 
always taking the necessar}^ precautions to have the pious secret 
kept She placed herself entirely under his guidance, and he soon 
persuaded her to consecrate herself to God. An interior view^ of 
eternal happiness inspired her with such contempt for the vanities 
of the world, and filled her heart with such divine love, that she 
had a complete loathing for finery, which it was not as yet 
permitted her to throw aside ; and from that time she entered into 
engagements to live in a state of perpetual virginit}\ 

The holy director did not choose that so pure a soul should 
continue longer exposed to the contagion of the world. She had 
herself come to him some days before Palm-Sunday to hasten the 
execution of her intention ; he told her to assist at the ceremony 
of the deliver}^ of palms dressed in her usual ornaments, to leave 
Assisi the following night, as our Blessed Saviour had left Jerusa- 
lem to suffer on ]Mount Calvar}-,^ and to come to the church of 
St ]Mary of the Angels, where she would exchange her worldly 
ornaments for a penitential habit, and the vain joys of the w^orld 
for holy lamentations over the Passion of Jesus Christ 

On the 1 8th of March, being Palm-Sunday, Clare, magnifi- 
cently dressed, went with other ladies to the cathedral church, and 
as she remained in her place out of bashfulness while the others 
crowded forward to receive the palms, tb bishop came down from 
the altar, and carried a palm branch t her, as a symbol of the 
victon' she was about to gain over the world. 

The following night, accompanied as propriety required, she 
arranged her flight as her spiritual Father had directed, and 
according to the earnest wish of her soul. Not being able to 
get out by the front door, of which she had not the key, she had 

* Heb. xiii, 12 and 13, 



S. FRANCIS 0¥ ASSISI. 99 

the courage and strength to break open a small door which had 
been blocked up with stones and wood, and she repaired to the 
church, where Francis and his brethren, who were saying their 
matins, received her with great solemnity, bearing lighted tapers 
in their hands. They cut off her hair before the altar, and after 
she had taken off her ornaments with the help of the females who 
accompanied her, she received the penitential habit, consecrating 
her virginity to Jesus Christ, under the protection of the Queen 
of virgins, while the religious chanted hymns and canticles. 

It was a touching scene to see a young noble lady, only 
eighteen years of age, in solitude in the middle of the night, 
renounce all the advantages and allurements of the world, put 
on sackcloth and a cord, and devote herself to a rigorous system 
of penitential exercises, solely for the love of God. Similar 
sacrifices can only be made by a supernatural virtue ; they prove 
that the religion which inspires them is divine ; and justly does 
St. Ambrose consider them to be far above the most heroical 
pagan virtues."^ 

It must be remarked, moreover, that the church of St. Mary of 
the Angels, which was the cradle of the Order of the poor evan- 
gelical brethren which Francis had just established, was also the 
place where Clare made profession oi the same poverty, that she 
subsequently prescribed to the Order of women, which she insti- 
tuted together with the holy Patriarch. This gives to the two Orders 
the pleasing consolation of knowing that they belong to the 
Mother of God from their origin, and that she is specially their 
mother. 

As soon as the ceremony was over, Francis, who was always 
guided by the spirit of wisdom, took the new bride of Jesus Christ, 
followed by her companions, to the monastery of Benedictines of 
St. Paul, there to remain until divine Providence should provide 
a dwelling for her. 

When morning dawned, and her parents learnt what had oc- 
curred during the night, they were overwhelmed with grief They 
equally disapproved of what Clare had done, and of the manner 
in which she had carried her intention into execution ; and they 
went in great numbers to the monastery of St. Paul, to compel her 
to leave it. At first they spoke to her in mild and friendly terms ; 
they represented to her that she was choosing a vile and con- 
temptible state of life, which was disgraceful to her family, and 
that there was no precedent in the whole country o^ such an 
occurrence. After which they attempted by violence to force her 
from the monastery; which they might easily have done, becau-e 
in those times the religious females did not keep strict enclosure, 



* St. Ambros. lib. i, dc Virginibus, cap. 4. 



lOO S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

besides which her relations were all military men, accustomed to 
acts of violence. 

Clare uncovered her head to show them that she was shorn ; 
and she protested, clinging to the altar, that nothing in the world 
should tear her from Jesus Christ. Either because they had too 
much respect for religion to venture to violate so holy an asylum, 
or that God restrained them by His power, they molested her no 
farther. She had only to resist the fresh efforts they made to in- 
duce her to return to her father. But the love of God gave her 
courage to resist with such determined firmness, that, giving up 
all hopes of conquering her, th3y left her in peace. 

A short time after, Francis removed her from the monastery of 
St. Paul to that of St. Angelo de Panso, of the same Order of St. 
Benedict, near Assisi, to which she drew her sister Agnes. The 
conformity of their inclinations and manners, which rendered them 
tenderly united, had made them sensibly feel their separation. 
Clare was greatly grieved that Agnes, at so tender an age, should 
be exposed to the dangers of the world. She prayed fei-vently to 
the Almighty to cause her sister to feel the sweets of His grace, so 
that she might grow disgusted with the world, and become her 
companion in the service of Jesus Christ. Her prayer was soon 
favorably heard, for, a fortnight after her consecration, Agnes came 
to her, and declared that she was decided to give herself wholly to 
God. ''I return Him thanks," replied Clare, *' for that He has 
thus relieved me from the uneasiness I was in on your account.'' 

The indignation of the family was extreme, when it became 
known that one sister had followed the other. On the morrow, 
twelve of its principal members hastened to the monastery of St. 
Angelo. At first they feigned to have come in a peaceful mood ; 
but, having been admitted, they turned to Agnes, for they had no 
longer any hopes of Clare, and said, ''What business have" you 
here.'^ Come immediately home with us.'' She replied that she 
did not choose to leave her sister, when one of the knights, for- 
getting himself altogether, attacked her furiously, struck her 
with his fist, kicked her, pulled her down by the hair, and the 
others carried her off" in their arms. All that this innocent lamb 
could do, thus torn by the wolves, was to cry out, '' i\Iy dear sister, 
come to my aid ; do not let them separate me from Jesus Christ." 
Clare could give her no assistance, but by praying to God to render 
her steadfast, and to check the violence of her ravishers. This 
prayer * was followed by a miraculous effect, similar to what the 
Church records in the Life of the illustrious virgin and martyr, 
St. Lucia. 

As the relations of Agnes dragged her down the mountain, 

* Offic. S. Lucize, Surius, cap. 3, Dec. n. 9. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. lOI 

tearing her clothes, and scattering her hair along the road, because 
she continued violently to resist, she became suddenly so heavy, 
that they were unable to raise her from the ground, even with the 
help of persons who flocked from the fields and the vineyards. 
They were blind to the finger of God in so extraordinary an event, 
and they even made a jest of it ; for ill-disposed persons, like the 
Pharisees of the Gospel, do not submit to the evidence of miracles, 
but carry their impiety to the length of turning all miracles into 
ridicule. The one which God was pleased to operate in the person 
of Agnes, threw her uncle, whose name was Monaldi, into such a 
rage, that he raised his arm to strike her in such a manner as 
would have killed her, if the Divine power had not arrested the 
blow by bringing such an excessive pain into the limb as to disable 
it, and which lasted a considerable time. This is a grand lesson 
for those parents who prevent their children from consecrating 
themselves to God in a religious state. If they do not experience 
in this world the effects of His anger, "^ they ought to fear the 
consequences of the anathema in the next with which the Council 
of Trent menaces, not only them, but those also who compel their 
children to embrace a religious state. 

Clare came to the field of battle, where she found her sister half 
dead. She entreated the relations to retire and to leave her in her 
care, which they regrettingly did. Agnes then rose with great 
ease, glad to have had a share in the cross of Jesus Christ. She 
returned to the monastery with her sister, to consecrate herself to 
God under the direction of Francis, who cut off her hair with his 
own hands, and instructed her in the duties of the state she was 
about to enter. Clare, not having her mind quite at ease in the 
monastery of St. Angelo, removed to the house which adjoined 
the church of St. Damian, the first of the three which he had 
repaired, and where he had foretold that there would be one day 
a monastery of poor females, who should lead a sanctified life, 
and whose reputation would cause our Heavenly Father to be 
glorified. 

Clare had scarcely fixed herself there, when the fame of her 
sanctity spread all around, and produced wonderful effects. The 
influence of grace was so great, that there were many persons of 
all sexes and all ages, of all states of life, nobles and rich, who took 
to a religious life. They mutually excited each other in fimilies, 
as St. Jerome tells us that it occurred in all Africa, when the 
illustrious virgin, Demctrias, moved by the exhortation of St. 
Au.^ustine, took the holy veil.f It was even seen that married 
persons separated by mutual consent, and entered separate con- 



* Cone. Trifl. sess. 25, dc Rcgul. cap. 13. 
f J)jv. JliLToiiyin. JOpist. 97, acf I)tMm'tri:ul. 



I02 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

vents : and those who could not do this, strove to sanctify them- 
selves in the world. The virtues of the holy spouse of Jesus 
Christ, as a precious perfume, attracted pure and innocent souls, 
who made the house of St. Damian a numerous monastery, and 
the origin of the Order of the Poor Sisters, or of St. Clare, the 
second of the three which were established by St. Francis. He 
appointed Clare abbess of St. Damian, although her humility 
made her wish to be the servant of the others, and he only over- 
came her repugnance by enforcing that obedience which she had 
promised him. 

It was there that this holy abbess was enclosed during a period 
of forty-two years in the practice of the most eminent perfection, 
and which we shall have an opportunity of referring to, when we 
come to speak of her rule. 

After Francis had regulated the spiritual exercises of these nuns, 
provided for the enclosure, and placed the house in good order, 
he turned in his mind what was personal to himself, and was for 
several days in great perplexity as to what his future way of life 
should be. In order to come to a decision, he consulted those 
of his brethren with whom he was in habits of familiar intercourse, 
and proposed to them his difficulties as follows : 

' ' My brethren, what do you advise me } Which of the two do 
you think best : that I shall give myself to prayer, or that I shall 
go forth to preach } To me it seems that prayer is what is most 
advantageous to me, for I am a simple person, who am not a 
good speaker, and I have received the gift of prayer, rather than 
that of speech : moreover, we gain much by prayer ; it is the 
source of graces ; but, in preaching, we only distribute to others 
what God has co:nmunicated. Prayer purifies the heart and the 
affections ; it unites us to the sole true and sovereign good, and 
strengthens us in virtue. Preaching renders the feet of the 
spiritual man dusty ; it is an employment which dissipates and 
distracts, and which causes regular discipline to be relaxed. In 
fine, in prayer we speak to God, and we listen to Him ; we con- 
verse with the angels, as if we lived an evangelic life. In preaching, 
we must have much condescension towards men, and, living with 
them, we must hear and see, speak and think, in some measure 
as they do, in a human way. But there is one thing which seems 
to prevail over all this before God, which is, that the only Son, 
who is in the bosom of His Father, and is the sovereign wisdom, 
came down from heaven to save souls, to instruct mankind by 
His example and by His word, to redeem them by His blood, 
and to make of this precious blood a bath and a celestial beverage : 
all that He had He gave up liberally and without reserve for our 
salvation. Now, having bound ourselves to do all things accord- 
ing to the model given us in His person, it seems more in 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. lOJ 

conformity to the will of God, that I should give up my own 
repose in order to labor for the benefit of others. " 

After all these reflections, he continued in an anxious state of 
uncertainty as to the course he ought to take ; and this man, who 
had wonderful knowledge through the spirit of prophecy, had no 
light thrown on his doubts by prayer : God permittnig at that time 
that he should not be sensible to the evident proofs he had, that 
he was called to the apostolic life. 

We have already seen that powerful attractions to a contemplative 
life had given rise to similar difficulties arising in his mind. As 
he wished in all things to act faithfully and perfectly, his principal 
care was to apply himself to the virtues which he knew, by the 
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to be most agreeable to God. 

St. Bonaventure says that this was the ground of his doubt, and 
he gives two reasons why God permitted that the saint should not 
have been able to solve the difficulty, the solution of which appeared 
so easy. The first is, in order that the heavenly oracles which had 
announced that Francis w^as destined to preach the Gospel, should 
give a more exalted idea of the merits of that ministry ; to this 
may be added, that it was of consequence that it should be known 
with certainty that the holy founder and his disciples were destined 
by Heaven to labor for the salvation of souls, since in after times 
it has been found that some of their adversaries have contested it. 
Secondly, the doubt of the servant of God was useful in preserving 
his humility and rendering it still greater. In the capacity of a 
Friar Minor, he was not ashamed of seeking the advice of the least 
of his brethren, he who had been taught such elevated things from 
the sovereign Master. It was likewise one of his maxims 
throughout his whole life, and of the principles of the sacred 
philosophy, of which he made profession, to address himself to the 
simple as well as to the learned, to the imperfect as well as to the 
perfect, to the young as to the old, with the ardent desire to find 
from intercourse with them in what way and by what means he 
could best serve God according to His good pleasure, and raise 
himself to the greatest perfection. 

Finally, we must not be surprised that he entreated God to 
grant him additional proofs of his vocation, after having received 
such convincing ones by revelations, by miracles, and from the 
mouth of the vicar of Jesus Christ ; when we see in the sacred 
Scriptures,* that Gideon, having been chosen by God to fight the 
enemies of His people, and this choice having been manifested 
by the apparition of an angel, by a miracle and by a revelation, 
he nevertheless begged the Lord to give other miraculous signs, 
in order to be still hirther assured of it, and his prayer wasgranled. 



' Jiulic. vi, 12. 21, 25, 36, 39, 40. 



I04 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

Would to God, that, without asking for miracles and without 
expecting them, all vocations, particularly those for the holy 
ministries, and other affairs of conscience, were examined on such 
sound principles, and weighed by means as likely to deserve the 
light of PJeaven. 

In order to know how finally to decide, Francis sent two of his 
religious, Philip and Masse, to Brother Sylvester the priest, who 
was then on the mountain near Assisi, continually intent on 
prayer, begging him to consult the Lord on the subject of his 
doubt, and to let him know the result. He made a similar 
application to Clare, recommending her to put the same question 
to her sisters, and particularly to the one who should appear to her 
to be the most pure and most single-minded. The venerable 
priest and the consecrated virgin gave similar answers, and pro- 
nounced that it was the will of God that Francis should go forth 
to preach. 

When the two religious returned, Francis received them with 
great respect and affection ; he washed their feet, embraced them, 
and gave them their meal. He then took them into the wood, 
where he knelt bareheaded and inclined, with his hands crossed 
upon his breast, and said to them : "Now tell me what my Lord 
Jesus Christ commands me to do .?" ''My very dear brother, and 
my Father, " replied j\Iasse, ' ' Sylvester and Clare received precisely 
the same answer from our Lord Jesus Christ, which is, that you 
set out to preach ; because it is not for your salvation alone that 
He called you, but for the salvation of others also ; and for them 
He will put His words into your mouth.' 

Then Francis, moved by the Spirit of God, as the prophets 
had been, and inflamed by the fire of charity, rose up, saying, 
'' Let us then go in the name of the Lord ; " and he set out with 
two of his companions. Masse of IMarignan, and Angelo of Rieti. 
He walked so fast to obey the words of Heaven, that it was easy 
to see that the Lord acted upon him, and that he had received 
fresh strength from above for the ministr}^ of preaching. His 
companions were the more convinced of this by the very extra- 
ordinary wonders which were worked by him on the route. As 
it pleased God to renew these often in his favor, they will be given 
altogether at the end of his life. 

The apostolical preacher went first to Bevagna, where he pro- 
nounced an excellent discourse on the love of God ; after which, 
in presence of the whole audience, he restored the sight of a 
blind girl by putting spittle three times on her eyes in the name 
of the Blessed Trinity. This miracle had a salutary effect on a 
number of sinners, who were converted ; and many of them joined 
him who was the instrument of the Divine Power. 

So many souls gained to Jesus Christ in one i)lacc, stimulated 



1 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. IO5 

him to carry the faith into the Levant. The triumph ol mart}Ts, 
whose charity could not be extinguished by the violence of persecu- 
tions, excited in him a holy jealousy. Burning with similar fire, 
he wished to offer himself, as they had done, a sacrifice, in order 
to mark his gratitude in some measure, by the effusion of his blood, 
for the goodness of Jesus Christ, who vouchsafed to die for our 
salvation, thus the better to excite others to love Him. But he 
desired to have the sanction of the Sovereign Pontiff for this under- 
taking, and therefore bent his steps to Rome, preaching as he 
went the truths of salvation, which God confirmed by miracles. 

Arrived at Rome, he sought an audience of the Pope. Innocent 
III still filled the Papal throne ; he first communicated to him 
the wonderful extension of his Order, the holy lives of his brethren, 
and the design which God had to bring about a reformation of 
morals in the world, which was grovWng old, and was visibly in a 
state of decay. Then he disclosed the project he had of trans- 
porting himself to the lands of the Mahometans and Tartars, to 
endeavor to give them some knowledge of the Gospel. It must 
be remarked, that the Saint attributed to the world that decay 
which is the effect of old age, but he did not extend this to the 
Church, because he well knew that, although old, she was not 
infirm. St. Augustine says, that* her old age is always young, 
fresh, and vigorous, and that she bears fruit in abundance, f The 
Pope, who was very religious, was highly gratified at the 
fortunate success which he now learnt had attended the Saint's 
labors ; he willingly granted the servant of God leave to preach to 
the infidels, and he affectionately gave him his blessing. 

Two sermons which Francis preached at Rome procured him 
two disciples, Zachary and William ; the one was a Roman, the 
other was an Englishman. John de Capella, of whom we have 
before spoken, having left the Order about this time, and having 
had a similar end to that of Judas, William was substituted for 
him, as St. Mathias had filled the place of the traitor in the apos- 
tolate, and he was afterwards always considered as the twelfth of 
the first companions of the Patriarch. 

A Roman widow, very noble and very rich, called Jacqueline 
de Settesoli, J having heard the Saint preach, was very anxious to 

* These words differ greatly from those which were said to the venerable 
servant of God, Vincent of Paul, and which he heard with horror.— See his 
Life written hy M. Abclly, Bishop of Rodez, in 1664, liv. 2, ch. ii. And La 
Vraie Defense de ses Sentimensy which the same j^relate wrote in 1668, in 
refutation of a Hbel entitled : Defense de feu St. Vincent de PanL 

t S. August, in Psal. xxxvi, serm. 3, n. 4, et in Psal. xci, n. 1 1. 

X Wading, not having found any traces of a family of that name, believes 
that the lady was so called from the part of Rome which she inhabited, which 
was called Septisolium, or Scptcmsolia, or SejUasolis. Paronius says that 
this place was bolu-cen M<nii)t Palatini' a:i<l \\\v d-M-Iivit v (»f Scaurus ; and 



I06 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

have an interview with him. He agreed to it, ahhough reluc- 
tantly, and he gave her such salutary instructions, that she committed 
the care of all her affairs to her two sons, who were afterwards 
senators, in order that she might apply herself to the sanctification 
of her soul, employing the gift of tears which God had given her, 
to weep incessantly the neglects of her past life. This lady and 
St. Clare were the only two persons of the female sex with whom 
the servant of Jesus Christ had any intimate relations on the 
subject of their salvation ; which ought to serve as a caution for 
this sort of direction not to be too greatly multiplied, and to have 
care taken that it be always holy. 

As there is no affection more solid or more effective that that 
which is grounded on charity, the pious widow rendered to 
Francis and his brethren all the good offices in her power. When 
they came to Rome she^ provided them with lodgings, she fed 
them, clothed them, and assisted them in their sicknesses with the 
tenderness of a mother. It was she who procured for them from 
the Benedictines of the abbey of St. Cosmas beyond the Tiber, a 
refuge in the hospital of St. Blaise ; and this hospital with its church 
was entirely ceded to them by the same religious Order in the year 
1229, at the request of Pope Gregory IX; it is at this day the 
convent of St. Francis of Ripa.* Thus the Friars Minor are 
indebted to the children of St. Benedict for the first establishment 
they had in Rome, as well as for that of St. Mary of the Angels, 
or Portiuncula, the first of the whole Order. 

Francis, having terminated his business at Rome, returned to 
St. Mary of the Angels, where he communicated to his brethren 
his intention of proceeding to the Levant. He exhorted them in 
the strongest terms to perfect themselves in the exercises of a 
religious life ; he left them Peter of Catania as superior during 
his absence, and set out with one companion for Ascoli. At that 
place they were extremely anxious to see and hear this admirable 
man, who was everywhere looked upon as a Saint : he was scarcely 
arrived in the town when all flocked to him ; whichever way he 
went, a crowd followed him ; eveiy one was anxious to get near 
him, and they pressed upon each other in order only to be able 
to touch his miserable habit. His presence and preaching in 
this town procured him thirty disciples, some priests, and some 
laymen, whom he placed in different houses of the Order. 

that there were there several ruins on which were raised seven thrones, 
which had the appearance of a high tower. Ad ann. 1084, n. 5. A manu- 
script in the Vatican says that the temple of the Sun, which was in the same 
place, bears the same name. — Wading, ad ann. 1226, n. 28. 

* It is on the borders of the Tiber. The cell of the Saint is visited out of 
devotion, which has been changed into a chapel, where several cardinals and 
prelates come to say mass. — Wading, ad ann. 1229, n, 23. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. IO7 

The desire of martyrdom which he aspired to from the infidels, 
did not admit of a longer stay at Ascoli ; he therefore made for 
the sea-side, and embarked on board a vessel which was bound 
for Syria. But on the passage the winds became adverse, and 
they were obliged to come to anchor off Sclavonia, where he 
remained some days in hopes of. finding some other vessel bound 
to the Levant. Not finding any, and perceiving that his intention 
had been foiled, he applied to some seamen who were about to 
sail to Ancona, to take him on board their vessel for the love or 
God. They refused obstinately to do so, because he had no 
money wherewith to pay his passage ; nothwithstanding this, the 
holy man contrived to slip secretly on board with his companion. 

An unknown person came on board the vessel and brought 
provisions with him, saying to one of the passengers : "Worthy 
man, I confide these provisions to you, for the use of two poor 
religious who are secreted in the vessel ; take care of them, and 
give them to them when required." Who could this charitable 
purveyor be ? There is reason to think, with St. Bonaventure, that 
he was sent by God to the assistance of these two poor religious, 
who were only poor for love of Him. Stormy weather rendered 
the passage disastrous ; they could neither carry sail, nor return 
to land. All the sailors' provisions were expended : there was 
nothing left but the provisions put on board for the two religious. 
Divine Providence was pleased to multiply these, inasmuch that 
they sufficed for all who were in the vessel for several days, during 
which they were still at sea, before they reached Ancona. The 
sailors, astonished at this miracle, were convinced that the poor 
man whom they had refused to receive on board, had, by his 
merits, saved their lives, and they returned thanks to God for the 
mercy. 

After having landed, Francis went to several places, spreading 
the word of God as a precious seed, which produced an ample 
harvest. Many came to see him from afar, so greatly had his 
reputation been disseminated. A celebrated poet came amongst 
others, having heard his entire contempt for the things of this 
world spoken of He was of the class of persons who were called 
in Provence Troubadours^ who invented fables, and composed 
different pieces of poetry, which were sung in the houses of the 
nobles. The art of versifying in the vulgar tongue was uncommon 
in those times, and was only practised by the nobility. llie 
Italians imitated the people of Provence, and translated into their 
language the best compositions of the Troubadours. Hie poet 
of whom we are speaking excelled in this art, and the ]unperor 
Frederic H, had crowned him as the Prince of Poets, which 
caused him to be usually called ''The King of Verse." 

C'oiiiing tluMi to sec Franc is, ho jvasstMl through the liorough 



I08 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

town of San Severino, and entered the church of a monastery, 
where the servant of God was preaching on the mystery of the 
Cross. He Hstened to him at first without knowing him ; but 
God disclosed him to him in the course of the sermon, by two 
shining swords pierced through him cross-wise from the head to 
the feet, and from one hand to the other through the breast ; from 
this he became aware that the preacher was the holy man of whom 
so much was spoken. The first impression which the vision made 
upon him was, that he ought to live a better life ; but the words 
of the preacher filled him with such compunction, that he felt as 
if he had been pierced by the sword of the spirit which came out 
of his mouth, and he went after the sermon to renounce in his 
hands all the vanities of the world, and to embrace his institute. 
Francis, seeing him pass so perfectly from the agitations of the 
world to the peace of Jesus Christ, gave him the name of Brother 
Pacificus. 

St. Bonaventure adds, that he was a man of so much holiness 
that he received the additional favor from God of seeing on the 
forehead of his Blessed Father a great Taii,'^^ painted in a variety 
of colors, which threw a remarkable softness on his countenance. 
This letter, which represents the cross, showed the interior come- 
liness which the love of the cross of the Son of God gave to 
his soul. 

Watchfulness and affection inspired the Father with the wish 
to return into Tuscany, to visit the establishments he had founded 
there the preceding year, and to learn from his own inspection 
how they progressed in the ways of God. The family of the 
Ubaldini, which is among the most illustrious of Florence, gave 
him a convent which had been built and founded by their 
ancestors for the religious of the Order of St. Basil, in the sixth 
or seventh century, some leagues from the city, in the middle of 
a wood, and which had been since occupied by hermits. He put 
some of his companions into it, and returned towards the end of 
October to St. Mary of the Angels, preaching, as was his custom, 
in all the places he passed through. The repose he allowed 
himself after so much fatigue, was that of applying himself to the 
instruction of his disciples, and addressing discourses to them full 

* S. Jerome, on the ninth chapter of Ezekiel, says, that in his time the/ 
made use, in the Samaritan language, of the letter Tan, which is the last of 
the ancient Hebrew letters, and that it represented a cross. It is the Tan of 
the Greeks, and the large letter T of the Romans. It was God's pleasure, 
in the vision of the prophet, that this sign should be printed on the forehead 
of the faithful Jews, as the figure of the Cross on which Jesus Christ was 
to be immolated for our salvation. From the Apostolic times, the Christians 
made the sign of the Cross on themselves, and it was the sign of their 
profession. See Tertul. lib. 3, adv. Marcian, cap. 22, Corn, a Lapid. Est 
ct Synops. crit. iu cap. 9, Ezech. et Palueog. Grcec. lib. 2, cap. 3. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



109 



of wisdom and prudence, an abridgment of which will be given 
at the end of this work. 

At the end of this year he had an attack of ague, which became 
quartan, and reduced him to a great state of languor. The 
bishop of Assisi, who was a most charitable prelate, and his 
particular friend, having heard of his illness, came to see him, and, 
notwithstanding his resistance, had him removed to the palace, 
where he attended to his recovery with the chaiity of a pastor and 
the affection of a parent. His religious came to him there to seek 
the lights they required. They also brought to him such postulants 
as presented themselves, and those who weie recommiended to him 
(thirty or forty at a time sometimes) by the missionaries he had in 
various parts of Italy ; for none were there received who had not 
been examined by the founder himself A young gentleman from 
Lucca came with tears in his eyes, to entreat him to give him the 
habit. ''Unfortunate young man,'' said the Saint, "why do you 
attempt to show by your eyes what is not in your heart ? You 
have, without due consideration, formed a plan which you will soon 
as lightly give up.'' In fact, a few days after he went home with 
two of his relations who had come in search of him, and he 
thought no more of becoming a religious. 

The servant of God, having regained some portion of strength 
during his residence with the bishop, by relaxing in the severity 
of his abstinences, which were extreme, became irritated with his 
own body, and was inflamed with the desire of humbling himself: 
''It is not right," he said, ''that people should think me austere, 
while I am pampered in secret." Upon which the spirit of 
humility suggested to him an act, which St. Bonaventure records, 
not as an example, but as a prodigy, to be compared only with 
those extraordinary things which God commanded the Prophets 
to perform.* He rose, and accompanied by a great number of 
his brethren, he went to the great Square of Assisi, assembled the 
people, and led them to the cathedral. Then he caused himself 
to be dragged by the vicar of his convent from the church to the 
place of execution, stripped, and with a cord round his neck, as 
the prophet Isaias.f There, weak as he still was, and shiveiing 
with cold, he addressed the assembly with surprising energy, and 
said in a loud voice : "I assure that I ought not to receive honor 
as if I were a spiritual man. I am a carnal, sensual, and greedy 
man, whom 3'ou ought thoroughly to despise." The hearers, who 
knew the austerity of his life, struck with such a scene, admitted 
that such extraordinary humility was more to be admired than 
imitated. 



* Isa. XX, 2, ct scq, Jcr. xxvii, 2, et xxviii, 13, Ezoch. iv, 12 and 13. 
t Isa. XX, 2, cl sc([. 



no S. FRA>XIS OF ASSISI. 

Nevertheless, the holy doctor, whom we have just named, finds 
in this some wholesome instruction. It teaches us, he sa^^s, that, 
in the practice of virtue, we must avoid with great care everything 
having any tendency to hypocrisy, repress the slightest approaches 
of \-anit}-, and have a sovereign contempt for praise. The humble 
Francis, who strenuously labored for his interior sanctification, did 
many things '^'ith " a \'iew of rendering himself contemptible, 
endeavoring, above all, to prevent men from being deceived in the 
idea they might have formed of his sanctitv^ This is the character- 
istic of true devotion ; it has no borrowed exterior ; it is, or it 
endeavors to be, all that it seems. 

The religious whom Francis had sent into Lombardy, fulfilled 
the mission in an admirable manner. They acquired so much 
esteem at [Milan by their preaching and by their good example, 
that the archbishop of that cit\', Henrv- Satalas, gave them an 
establishment there, which became considerable later, by the 
liberalit}' of the [Milanese. 

One of the fruits of their apostolic labors was the vocation of a 
young man of rank, who was rich and talented, and who solicited 
the habit of the Order. Upon their acquainting him that, to 
become a Friar Elinor, it was requisite to renounce all temporal 
goods, he immediately disposed of all of which he was then 
master, and distributed the greater pan to the poor, resening the 
remainder to pay the expenses of his journey to Assisi, where he 
was told that it was.necessar}' to present himself to the founder, 
who alone had the power of recei\'ing no\ices. 

He induced some of his relations and fiiends to accompany 
him, and took with him a considerable number of senants ; one 
of the religious was also requested to go with them, in order to 
introduce the postulant, and favor his reception. When they 
arrived at St. [Maiy of the Angels, Francis, seeing such a number 
of persons, and such an appearance of vanity, asked the religious 
who was with them, WTio these lords were, and what they warned ? 
He answered : ' ' My father, this is a young man, learned and 
rich, of one of the first families of Milan, who wishes to become 
your disciple. '*' Francis replied, before them all, smiling : ' ' This 
young man does not seem to me to be fit for our Order, for, when 
people come with so much pomp, which is the mark of a proud 
spirit, to embrace a state of povert}^ we are led to believe that 
they have not yet sufficient contempt and aversion for the world, 
and that they are not prepared wholly to relinquish it But I will 
consult our brethren on the subject" 

He assembled them all, and asked their opinion, which was 
not to receive him, because he had still a fund of pride, and 
because the love of the splendor of the world was not yet eradicated 
firom his heart 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. I I I 

The young man who was present burst into tears ; and Francis, 
who was moved with compassion, said : ^ ' My brethren, will you 
receive him if he consents to serve in the kitchen ? it will be the 
means of inducing him to renounce the vanities of the world," 
They assented on this condition, which the postulant willingly 
agreed to, protesting that he was prepared to do anything that 
was required of him. The Father embraced him, after having 
returned to those who accompanied him his money and his 
equipage. He sent him to the hospital of St. Biasius of Rome, 
there to act as cook ; and the young novice attained to such 
perfection in that humble employment, that Francis judged him 
worthy to be placed over others, and made him superior of the 
same place. 

The line adopted in respect to this young man shows evidently, 
that for the religious profession neither birth nor riches nor talents 
are to be heeded, but that the essential qualifications principally 
to be considered for this holy state, are, to be sincerely prepared 
to die to the world and to self This is for the combined interest 
of those who have the admission of postulants, of the postulants 
themselves, and 'for that of the Order itself 

At the beginning of the year 12 13, the fever of which Francis had 
been cured at the Bishop's palace of Assisi recurred ; sometimes it 
was tertian, sometimes quartan; but always with great severity. 
He bore the suffering with great equanimity, because of the hatred 
he felt for his body, and from the patience taught by Jesus Christ. 
The violence of the fever which burned his .body, was, in his 
opinion, a lesser evil than the fire of temptations which inflame the 
soul ; his sufferings appeared to him a gain. All the Saints have 
had a like way of thinking, and the principles of Christianity ad- 
mit of no other. The only uneasiness the sickness gave to the 
holy man, was its having prevented his putting in force the 
intentions he had in view for the salvation of souls. But charity, 
which is ever active, suggested to him to exhort the faithful in 
writing, as he could not do so in person ; he therefore addressed 
them a short letter,* couched in the followins; terms : — 



* There care some similar letters written by an ancient solitary, and by S. 
Columban. They had for models the letters of the Apostles, and the circulars 
that the prelates oflen wrote on points of fiiith, morals, or discipline, to be 
communicated to the churches. It was an effect of the charity with which 
the hearts of these holy men were inflamed, and which extended to the whole 
world. — See Wading in Ep. I, S. Fran. 






112 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



TO ALL CHRISTIAN PRIESTS, RELIGIOUS LAYMEN, MEN AND WOMEN, 
OVER THE WHOLE EARTH. 

''O how happy are all those who love God, and who worthily 
practise all that Jesus Christ has taught in His holy gospel. Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy 
whole soul, and thy neighbor as thyself.* Let us love and adore 
God with great purity of mind and heart ; for that is what He 
seeks for above all things. He has said that the true adorers shall 
adore the Father in spirit and in truth, and that they who adore 
Him, must adore Him in spirit and truth. f I salute you in our 
Lord.--' 

This short letter was still fresh from his hand, when an infinity 
of copies were made of it, so anxious were all people to see 
anything that came from the hand of so holy a person. In this 
simple and brief exhortation they admired the candor of his soul 
and the extent of his charity, and, in reading it, they were moved 
by a power which penetrated the soul ; for the words of the Saints 
have a secret unction which is not found elsewhere. jMany persons 
entreated him to write at greater length, and his zeal not permitting 
him to refuse so pious a request, he penned a second letter, of 
which we give an extract only here, because it is very long. 

*'To all Christian priests, religious, and laymen, as well women 
as men, in the whole earth ; Brother Francis, their most humble 
servant, respectfully presents his services, wishing them the true 
peace which comes from heaven, and perfect charity in our Lord.'' 

He remarks in the first place, that being the servant of all, and 
fiom his infirmities not having it in his power to preach the word 
of God in peison. he has thought it his duty to supply for it by 
letters. He then proposes to them the incarnation, the institution 
of the Eucharist, and the death of Jesus Christ, who offered 
Himself for us on the cross, because it was His wish to save us all, 
and who has left us an example that we may follow His footsteps. 
He urges the praising Him and keeping His commandments, 
which he enforces from motives of fear, of hope, and of love. He 
recommends frequenting churches, and having great respect for 
ecclesiastics. He exhorts to the use of prayer, of fasting, of 
almsgiving, of all works of penance, of confession and communion. 
He speaks of the love of our neighbor, of the administration of 
justice, of good government, of submission to legitimate authority, 
of Christian humility, and the duties of the religious states, and 
finally, after having pointed out the misery of the body, which is 
nothing but corruption, and the happiness of the soul, which has 



* ^Litt. xxii, 37 and 39. t Joan, iv, 23 and 24. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. II3 

wonderful relations with the Three Divine Persons he deplores 
the blindness of sinners, who permit themselves to be deceived by 
the world, the flesh, and the devil, and pictures the death of one 
of the rich of this world, who has only become such by a series of 
injustices ; the representation of this is too vivid and too natural 
not to be laid before the reader. 

A man of the world falls sick, death is at hand, and it must at 
length be said to him : — ''Take order with thy house, for thou 
shalt die and not live."* His wife, his children, his relatives, his 
friends, crowd around his bed, and affect to weep. He looks at 
them, and weeps also. ''See,'' he says to them, "what can be 
done for my soul, my body, for my property ; I place all in your 
hands." Woeful and accursed, according to the words of the 
prophet, is he who places his salvation and his confidence in such 
hands, f The family calls in a priest, who, knowing the life this 
man has led, asks him if he desires to confess his sins, and do 
penance for them, as much as may be in his power. The sick 
man replies in the affirmative. "But,'' continues the priest, 
"will you make restitution of all you have unjustly taken from 
others, and give of your wealth to satisfy the justice of God '^" 
"Oh, as to that," replies th3 sick man, "it is impossible." "But 
why.?" rejoins the priest. "Because," says the man, "I will not 
do such an injury to my family ; I leave to them the whole of my 
property." While he thus argues, his malady grows worse, he 
loses the use of his speech, and dies in this deplorable state ! Now 
all the world must know, that wherever, and in whatsoever 
manner, a man dies in a state of mortal sin, without having satisfied 
the justice of God, as he might have done, he is stripped of all he 
had, and the devil carries off his soul, with sufferings which can 
only be known to those who feel them ; that soul is tormented in 
hell, while the worms consume his body ; his family share the 
property he leaves, and curse him for not leaving more. Thus, 
the love of the transitory goods of this world is the cause of his 
losing body and soul for all eternity." 

The letter terminates in these words: — "I, brother Francis, 
the meanest of your servants, sincerely ready to kiss your feet, 
entreat and conjure you, by that chanty which is God Himself,! 
to receive and put in practice, humbly and with affection, these 
words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and all others which came fiom 
His mouth. May all those into whose hands they shall fill, and 
who shall understand their sense, send them to others, in order 
that they also may profit by them. If they persevere to the end 
in the good use they ought to make of them, may they receive the 
blessing of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghosl. Amen." 



Isa. xxxii, I. f JcTt'iiiiah xvii, 5. \ 1 [n.m. iv, 16. 



114 S. FRAN'CIS OF ASSISI. 

These spiritual services, and others which Francis rendered to 
his neighbor, with the continual instruction he gave to his brethren, 
were his occupations during his sickness, and until such time as 
returning health permitted him to do more. He was somewhat 
belter in the spring, as is usually the case with those who have the 
quartan ague ; but his extraordinar}' austerities had so weakened 
his constitution, that he never wholly recovered his health, and 
' he remainder of his life was little else than a state of languor. 

As soon as he could commence travelling, he committed the 
care of his Order to Peter of Cantania, and set out with Bernard of 
Quintavalle and some others, in order to go to Morocco, through 
Spain, to preach the gospel to the Miramolin and to his subjects, 
in the hopes of attaining by this means the crown of martyrdom, 
which was the great object of his wishes. Feeble as he was, his 
zeal enabled him to walk fast, and he got before his companions : 
by the example of Jesus Christ, who, in going to Jerusalem, when 
He was to be delivered up to death, advanced quicker than His 
disciples, urged on by the ardent love He bore us, and anxious 
as He was to be immolated for our redemption.* 

The ser\-ant of God did not reach Spain till near the end of the 
year, because he had stopped in various places to preach, to visit 
the houses of his Order, and to receive accounts of others. His 
whole route was a succession of miracles, and other remarkable 
things, which contain admirable instructions. 

At Foligno, the sign of the cross which he made on the house 
of his host, ^protected it from various accidents, and particularly 
from fire, which did no damage to that dwelling, although the 
adjoining houses were three or four times on fire : the flames were 
even seen to take a contrary direction. At Spoleto, knowing that 
a rich man thought ill of his institute, and refused his brethren 
alms, he asked him only to give him a loaf; and, having received 
it, he divided it among his religious, and directed them to say the 
Lord's Prayer and the evangelical salutation three times, for the 
person who had given it. Their scanty meal was scarcely finished, 
when this man came to ask forgiveness for the harshness he had 
shown them, and he was, after that, the best friend of their 
convent, so good an idea of their institution had the saint impressed 
upon him. 

At Terni, the bishop who had listened to one of Francis' sermons, 
ascended the pulpit when he had done, and said to the people : — 
*'I\Iy brethren, the Lord, who has often enlightened His church 
by men illustrious for their science, has now sent you this Francis 
whom you have just heard, a poor illiterate man, and contemptible 
in appearance, in order that he may edify you by his word and his 

"" ^Nlark x. ;2. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISr. II5 

example. The less learned he is, the more does the power of 
God shine in his person, who chooses those who are foolish accord- 
ing to the views of the world, to confound all worldly wisdom. 
The care which God takes of our salvation obliges us to honor 
and glorify Him ; for He has not done the like to other nations." 

Francis followed the prelate, fell on his knees, kissed his hand, 
and said : — My lord, in very truth, no one has ever done me so 
much honor as I have this day received from you. Some attribute 
to me a sort of sanctity, which noway belongs to me, and which 
ought to be referred to God alone, the author of every perfect 
gift.* But you, my lord, have wisely separated what is valuable 
from what is vile, the worthy from the unworthy, the saint from the 
sinner ; f giving the glory to God, and not to me, who am but 
a miserable mortal It is, indeed, only to God, the King of Ages, 
immortal and invisible, that men should give honor and glory for 
ever and ever. "J The bishop, even more pleased with this 
specimen of his humility than with his preaching, embraced him 
affectionately. 

In the same city, by the sign of the cross he rendered some sour 
wine perfectly good, and that before persons who had tasted it in 
its acid state. But he performed a much greater miracle, which 
was universally admired, on a young lad who had been just crushed 
by the fall of a wall ; having had him brought to him, he applied 
himself to prayer, and, extending himself on the corpse, as the 
prophet Eliseus had done on the child of the Sunamite, § he 
restored him to life. 

In the county of Narni, he was lodged in the house of a worthy 
man who was in great affliction for the death of his brother, who 
had been drowned, and whose body could not be found, so that 
it might be buried. After having privately prayed for some time, 
he marked a spot in the river where he said that the body certainly 
was at the bottom, where it had been stopped by the entanglement 
of the clothes. They dived there, and the body was found, which 
he restored to life in the presence of the whole fimily. 

The fever, and a severe stomach complaint, caused him to faint 
in a hermitage which had been given him near the borough of St. 
Urban, and he asked for some wine to recover from tlie weakness 
which had ensued. As there was none to be had there, he had 
some water brought to him, which he blessed, by making the sign 
of the cross over it, and it was instantly changed thereby into 
excellent wine. The litde that he took of it renovated him so 
prom[)tly, that it was a double miracle. Upon which St. 
Bonaventurc remarks, that diis wonderful change is a t)pe of the 

*>c. i, 17. tjer. XV, 19. 

t 1 'J'lm. i, 17. ^ I Rcl;. iv, 34. 



ii6 



S. FIL\N'CIS OF ASSISI. 



change he had effected in his heart, in casting off the old man to 
put on the new.* 

In the city of Narni, he cured a man who had lost the use of his 
limbs for five months from palsy, employing no other remedy 
than a sign of the cross, which he made over his whole body : 
this he did at the request of the bishop of the place, and by 
virtue of the same sign he restored the sight of a blind woman. 
Being at Oiti, he straightened a child, who was so deformed that 
its head touched its feet. At San Gemini, he prayed, with three 
of his companions, for the wife of his host, whom the devil had 
possessed for a long while, and the evil spirit left her. Such 
evident miracles, publicly performed, and in great numbers, gave 
a wonderful splendor to his sanctit}\ In the archives of the town 
of Poggibonsi, in Tuscany, the act of donation of a house given to 
him is preserved, which commences thus : — ''We cede to a man 
named Francis, whom all the world considers as a saint, '' etc. 

The discourses of so holy a man, of one so gifted with the power 
of miracles, had the greatest effect upon the hearts of his hearers, 
and made the people very anxious to have houses of his Order 
established among them. He settled some of his religious at 
Foligno, at Trevi, at San Gemini, at Sienna, and in several other 
places. 

Fresh disciples joined him from all quarters, but he did not 
receive any until he had strictly examined their vocation. A young 
gentleman, having heard him preach at ]\Ionte Casale, a town in 
the Appennines. came to acquaint him with the design he had long 
formed of entering his order. "You must think seriously of it, '' 
replied Francis ; ''for the kind of life we lead must appear ver\' 
hard to those who have been tenderly brought up. " The young 
man answered courageously : " ]\Iy father, are not you and yours 
of the same nature as I am, and formed of the same earth ? I hope, 
with God's help, to bear without much inconvenience what my 
fellow-men can bear so willingly. '" These words were very 
pleasing to the Patriarch, and the postulant was received. It 
must be admitted that man has resources of strength which he 
might make use of to imitate the saints in many things, if he were 
not wanting in exertion and confidence in God. 

From ]\Ionte Casale Francis passed over the Apennines, and went 
through the valley of Marecchia to reach IMonte Feltro, or St Leo. 
He learnt on the road that the lord of that town was about to be 
knighted at his castle, where he was giving a grand feast, accom- 
panied by games and theatricals, to a numerous assembly of the 
nobility, among whom was Count Orlando Catanio, lord of 
Chiusi Nuovo, and of all the Casentino. Beinor near the castle. 



"" Cul. iii, 9 and lo. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSIST. I I 7 

and hearing the sound of the trumpets, which denoted that the 
revelry was about to begin : — '' Let us get hither also/' he said to 
his companions, ''and let us combat with all our might the devil, 
who never fails to lay his snares in these rejoicings, into which many 
fall ; for it is our duty to labor everywhere and in all places for the 
salvation of souls." He went up to the castle, and heard the 
solemn mass with all those who accompanied the new knight. 
As soon as it was over, he took a position on a height near the 
church, in order to preach from thence, and the crowd gathered 
round him to listen. 

He took the following Italian words for his text : — ''Tanto e il 
ben che aspetto, che d'ogni pena mi diletto : '' which means, 
' ' that the good which I hope for is so great, that to obtain it all 
suffering is pleasurable." He proved his text by this passage 
from St. Paul : — '' The sufferings of this life are not worthy to be 
compared with the glory to come ; "* by the example of the apos- 
tles, who were filled with joy for having been found worthy to 
suffer for the Name of Jesus ;f by the example of the martyrs, who 
willingly exposed themselves to torments and death, that they 
might obtain heaven ; and, finally, by such cogent reasons, so 
pathetically set forth, that all the auditors admired the doctrine, 
and felt what he wished to inspire them with. They found in the 
preacher something divine, which commanded respect, and they 
fixed their looks upon his countenance as if it had been that of an 
angel. 

Count Orlando, more impressed with what he had heard than 
the rest, went after the sermon to embrace the preacher, and he 
entreated him particularly to instruct him in the affairs of his 
salvation. Francis, who, in addition to his ardent zeal, had much 
discretion and suavity of manner, said : — " Count, go now and do 
honor to your friends whom you have invited, and we will talk of 
this affair at a more convenient time." The count, complying 
with this advice, joined the nobility who waited for him, and did 
not forget to take care of the servants of God. The feast having 
ended, he returned to the prudent director, with whom he had a 
lengthened conversation, with which he was so much struck, that 
in order to have the comfort of seeing familiarly the religious of 
his institute, he offered him the mountain of Alvernia, which be- 
longed to him, with a promise, if he agreed to it, of building there 
a convent for him. 

As this was a lonely place, very fit for contemplation, Francis 
gladly accepted the offer, and promised to send two of his brethren 
to Chiusi, before he should leave Italy. He did in fact send them, 
and the count having received them as angels sent from heaven, 

* Rom. viii, 18. f Acts V, 41. 



ii8 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 



he took them to Mount Ah-ernia, where they fixed upon a spot 
which appeared to them to be fit to build a church on. Fifty 
soldiers who had been brought thither began immediately to fell 
timber, and a place was cleared, where hutting was set up to lodge 
the religious, in which they dwelt until the church and convent 
were built. These are the circumstances under which the Friars 
Minor were settled on this mountain, which subsequently became 
so celebrated in the Christian world by the stigmata of St. Francis. 
The place was ceded to them by an authentic document which 
the count gave them, and which is preserved in the original in 
the archives of the convent. We shall speak further of this holy 
place when we come to^relate the first visit the saint paid it on his 
return from Spain. 

He continued his journey through Bologna, from whence, after 
having visited his brethren, he .came to Imola. He first went to 
offer his respects to the bishop, and asked permission to preach to 
his people. "I preach,'' replied the bishop coldly, ''and that is 
quite enough." Francis bowled humbly, and retired; but an 
hour afterwards he returned, and the bishop, surprised and angered 
at seeing him again, asked him what he could possibly want ? to 
which he replied, in a tone of sincere humility : ''My lord, if a 
father drives his son out of the house by one door, it is right that 
the son should return through another.'' The bishop, mollified 
by this mild address, embraced him with affection, and said : 
"From henceforth you and your brethren may preach in my 
diocese. I give you a general leave, it is what your humility has 
merited/' Is there anything which can soften minds and obtain 
favors sooner than this virtue ? 

The humility of Francis was accompanied with great courage, 
which rendered him firm and confident in the most imminent 
dangers, which was owing to the great confidence he had in God. 
Night overtook him once when he was in company with Leo, 
between Lombardy and the Trevisan Marshes, on a road having 
on one side the Po, one of the most considerable rivers in Italy, 
and on the other a deep morass. Leo, much alarmed, exclaimed : 
"Father, pray to God to deliver us from the danger we are in." 
Francis, full of faith, replied: "God can, if it is His good 
pleasure, give us light to dissipate the darkness of the night." 
These words were hardly spoken, when they found themselves 
surrounded by a brilliant light, which not only made the way 
clear to them, but enabled them to see many things on either side 
of the way, although the darkness was very dense everywhere else. 
They pursued their route, singing the glories of God ; the celestial 
torch served them as a guide till they reached the place where 
they were to be lodged, which was then very far off. This mirac- 
ulous light was a notification to the Saint that it was God's 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. II9 

pleasure that he should have a dwelling in the place to which His 
goodness had led him, and he told this to his companion. The 
inhabitants made no difficulty in assigning him one, after having 
heard him preach, and he gave the convent the name of The 
Holy Fire, as it is still called. 

In Piedmont, where he was well received, his preaching, with 
the reputation of his sanctity, confirmed by many miracles, con- 
verted a considerable number of persons, and procured him several 
houses.* From thence he went into Spain, but the writers of his 
Life have not recorded by what route. But it is scarcely to be 
doubted that he went by land, and through France ; ancient 
documents show that he entered Spain through Navarre, and that 
he arrived in the year 1 2 1 3 at Logrono, a town of Old Castile, 
which had formerly belonged to Biscay. 

On the road he came up with a poor and abandoned invalid, 
for whom he felt so much pity that he directed Bernard da Quin- 
tavalle, one of his companions, to stay with him and take care of 
him, which the other willingly undertook to do. At Logrono he 
miraculously cured a young gentleman who was on the point of 
death; then he went on to Burgos, where Alphonso IX., (or 
VIII. , according to some, ) father of Blanche, Queen of France, 
and mother of St. Louis, then was. Francis presented himself 
before the king ; he showed him the rules of his institute, and 
entreated him to receive the Friars Minor into his states. This 
monarch, who, in addition to his political and military talents, 
had a great fund of goodness and piety, received the holy man 
very favorably ; he condescended to read the rules, and after having 
conversed with him for some time, he gave leave to build houses 
in Spain for the Order. -j* 

The servant of God, fortified by the royal protection, procured 
a small church of St. Michael, near Burgos, where he dwelt for 
some time, and which he left in the care of two of the brethren, 

* Wading only says, that they gave him a house at Quiers, near Turin. 
But a learned Piedmontese author proves, not only from tradition, but from 
documents taken from the archives of Savoy, and from those of convents, 
of which Wading had no knowledge, that Francis placed some of his brethren 
nt Cairo, Cortemiglia, Asti, Montcalier, Turin, Veillane, and Susa; and that 
he did various marvellous things in Piedmont. 

tThe translator of Mariana's History of Spain, which appeared in 1 725, 
should have remarked that Mariana was in error when he said that S. Francis 
established his Order in Spain after that of S. Dominic, and after having had 
his institute approved by Ilonorius, and that in 1218. For it is certain that 
that Pope only gave his approval by Bull in 1225, to the Order of the Saint, 
which Innocent III hnd verbally approved in 12 10, which proves that the 
Order was introduced into Spain before that of S. Dominic ; since the institute 
of this holy Patriarch was only approved by Innocent III at the Lateran 
Council, held in 12 15, and not in 1212, as the translator inadvertently says, in 
a note, and was only approved by a Bull of lionorius. in I2i6. 



I20 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

in order to continue his journey at the beginning of the year 1214. 
But Medrani, an officer of the army of the king of Castile, father 
of the young man whom he had cured at Logrono, knowing that 
the king had permitted him to establish himself at Burgos, 
induced him to return to Logrono, where he gave him his own 
house and gardens to turn into a convent. Francis had it altered 
properly for the accommodation of religious, and placed it in charge 
of one of his companions, leaving in it, under his guidance, some 
of his novices, whom his preaching and miracles had drawn to 
him. He did the same at Vittoria, in respect to a dwelling, which, 
together with a church, he received from the municipality. 

He then turned his thoughts entirely to advancing towards the 
sea-side in order to embark for jMorocco, there to suffer martyrdom, 
for this was the great object of his wishes. If we only formed our 
opinion of things by the ordinary rules of prudence, we should be 
surprised, that a man, visibly sent by God for the institution of a 
new order of religious, should leave it so short a time after its birth, 
to seek for death among the infidels. But the Saints only 
thought of following the impulses which the Spirit of God 
suggested to them, with reference to the works which they had 
commenced by God's order. St. Anthony,* father of a great 
number of cenobites, left his monasteiy, and followed at Alexandria 
certain confessors of the faith ; he attended upon them in prison, 
and exhorted them under torment to procure for himself the palm 
of martyrdom. St. Dominic, animated by a similar spirit, had 
formed the intention of going among the Saracens, only two years 
after the institution of his order. f Francis, thus inspired from 
above, desired to meet death for Jesus Christ, and left to God the 
care of his rising family. 

This disposition, which was the fruit of ardent charity, was very 
pleasing to God ; it entered into the economy of His providence 
for the salvation of souls and for the aggrandizement of the new 
Order, for the Saint did not cease his labors when he took the route 
w^hich was to lead to martyrdom. Nevertheless, God did not 
choose that his design should be carried into execution : and His 
will was made known to His servant by a violent illness, which put 
it out of his power to embark for Morocco. Francis gave up his 
wishes, obeying what was thus signified to him, and came to the 
resolution to return to Italy for the guidance of his flock ; however, 
he did not set out till the close of the year. 

The authors of the Order are agreed in saying that he went to 
visit the tomb of the apostle St. James, at Compostella, the capital 
of Galicia, to which place devotion has attracted, for many centuries 

* S. Athan. in vit. S. Anton, n. 45. 

t Vit. S. Damin. a Theod. lib. 2, cap. 2, 



S. IKANCIS OF ASSISL 121 

past, crowds of pilgrims, and that an angel appeared to him there, 
and assured him that it was God's will that he should return to Italy, 
after having founded some establishments in Spain. They also 
say that he went inio Portugal,* where he raised to life the daughter 
of his host at Guimaraens, a town of the diocese of Braganza, 
which caused him to be considered as a Saint throughout the 
whole country ; and that he went through nearly the whole of the 
kingdom of Arragon and the adjacent provinces. And, finally, 
they relate a most extraordinary circumstance. 

Francis being one evening on the banks of the river Orbego, 
Vith his companions, w^here there was no food, a young man of 
the town of Novia overtook them, and carried them over on some 
horses he had with him, and received them hospitably. The 
gratitude the Saint manifested, was by saying, "May the Lord 
reward you for the kindness you have shown us, when He rewards 
the just. " Some short time after, this young man, having gone to 
Rome out of devotion, and having endeavored to put his con- 
science in a fit state, he prayed fervently to God, to take him out 
of this world before he should commit a mortal sin. His prayer 
was heard ; he died. His father desired to have a funeral service 
said for him, and thirty Friars Minor attended it without having 
been asked ; none knew from whence they came, nor whither 
they afterwards went, which made it thought that the assistance 
was miraculous ; and as it was known what the holy man Francis 
had said to the deceased, it was understood that he had, by this 
means, procured the reward of the just for him whose hospitality 
he had received. 

Gonzagues, Bishop of Mantua, who had been General of the 
Order of St. Francis, says, that it is held as certain in Spain, that 
he commenced the establishments of Gasta, Arevalo, Avila, 
Madrid, Tudela, and caused several other convents to be built. 
It is easily understood that in the eight or nine months in which 
he remained in Spain after his illness, he arranged much by 
himself and by his companions ; the old inscriptions which are 
still seen on the tombs of many of them are an additional proof 
What is quite certain is, that his holy life and his preaching were 
of the greatest benefit to souls, and that his Order was received in 

* Some persons think that S. Francis saw Queen Urraqua, the wife of 
Alphonso II, in Portugal, and that he foretold to her, that Portugil would 
never be united to Spain. Wading proves that not to be true ; and he adds, 
that had such a prediction been made, it could not be said up to this time 
that it was false, because the Spaniards had been masters of Portugal under 
PhiHp II. For besides that that occupation was temporary, there was never 
any true union between the two countries, even when the same king governed 
them. Portugal was subject to Spain, but not united. Philip II declares 
this in an assembly of tlie states, and the public documents prove it. Wading, 
ad ann. 12 13 

6 



122 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISf. 

Spain with an aftection which has passed from age to age, from 
fathers to sons ; so that Spain is one of the countries of the world 
in which there is the greatest veneration for St. Francis, and the 
greatest consideration for the Order of Friars Minor. 

The same bishop tells us, on the testimony of universal and 
unvaried tradition, of many miracles perfonned by the Almighty, 
through the ministry of the holy man. We shall satisfy ourselves 
by relating one of them, which is warranted by manuscripts and 
documents. 

Francis was logded at Compostella, at the house of a poor 
dealer in charcoal, whose name was Cotolai, and he often went to 
pass the night in contemplation on a neighboring mountain. 
God made known to him, that it was His will that he should 
build a convent between two valleys, the one of which was com- 
monly called the valley of God, and the other the valley of hell. 
He knew that this ground belonged to the Benedictines of Com- 
postella, of the Abbey of St. Pay, or Pelagius, since transferred to 
that of St. Martin ; and, bearing in mind the favors which the 
Religious of this holy Order had done him in the gifts of St. Mary 
of the Angels, and at Rome, he called upon the Abbot and asked 
him unhesitatingly permission to build a convent between the two 
valleys. " What will you give me in payment.^" says the Abbot. 
Francis replied, "As I am very poor, and have neither money, 
nor anything else to give you, if you grant me what I ask, and 
what will be most precious to me, I will give you in quit rent 
yearly, a small basket of fish if they can be caught in the river.'' 
The Abbot who was a very pious man, admiring his simplicity 
and his confidence, gi'anted him his request on the condition 
proposed, and .an act to that effect was prepared and signed 
by both. 

The holy man came to Cotolai and told him what had passed 
between the Abbot of St. Pay and himself, and added: ''My 
dear host, it is God's will that you should build this convent ; 
therefore prepare yourself for the work. "Oh, how shall I be 
able to do that, " answered Cotolai, ' ' I who am so poor, and who 
Hve by my daily labor .^'' "Take courage," said Francis, "take 
a pickaxe, and go to the spring which is close by ; make a hole a 
httle in front of it, and you will find a treasure which will enable 
you to execute the order of heaven." Cotolai, relying on the 
Saint's word, searched as he was desired, found the treasure, and 
built the convent, which is known by the name of St. Francis at 
tliis day. This fact is narrated in an authentic manuscript in the 
archives of the Abbey of St. Martin, from whence this is copied ; 
and in two very old inscriptions, one of which is on the tomb of 
Cotolai and his wife, whose name was Mary de Bicos, and the 
other over the gate of the church of the convent in which their 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISL 1 23 

tomb is. The deed which was executed by Francis and the 
Abbot of St. Pay, is preserved in the original in the archives of 
the Abbey of St. Martin of Compostella. The Prince of Spain, 
Phihp the Second, saw it in the year 1554, when he was about 
to embark at Corunna, to marry Mary, queen of England. 
However, the marvel has nothing in it which should be the cause 
of much surprise : our Saviour, who made St. Peter find in the 
mouth of a fish wherewithal to pay the tribute for his Master and 
himself,* could easily cause a treasure of money to be found 
sufficient to build a house for his faithful servant Francis. 

When the apostolical man had terminated his mission in Spain, 
he went to rejoin Bernard de Quintavalle, whom he had left on 
entering it, in charge of the poor sick man, who was perfectly 
cured, and he came through Aragon into Catalonia. The magis- 
trates of Barcelona, where he stopped for a short time, were so 
pleased with his poverty, his humility, and his other virtues, that, 
for the sake of having some religious of his Order, they converted 
the hospital where he was lodged into a convent, the church and 
cloister of which are still extant, and are venerable from the 
remembrance of the Saint. 

At San Saloni, a small town between Barcelona and Gerona, an 
adventure occurred to him which seemed purely accidental, but 
which Gad turned to good. As he walked by the side of a vine- 
yard, his companion gathered a bunch or two of grapes to refresh 
himself He who had charge of the vineyard, perceiving it, came 
violently upon the religious, beat him and abused him in no 
measured terms, and took from him his poor cloak. Francis asked 
to have the cloak back, alleging mildly, that what had been taken 
had done no injury to the vineyard, and that good feeling required 
that this assistance should be given to a passer-by who needed it.f 
But, not having succeeded in procuring its restoration, he went to 
the proprietor of the vineyard, from whom he had no difficulty in 
getting it back, after having told him what had happened. He 
then conversed with him on heavenly things with such eff'ect, that 
the man, devoting himself from that moment to his service, 
promised to receive hospitably all the Friars Minor who should 
pass through San Saloni, and Turnish them with whatsoever they 
might require, as far as his means would allow ; which he never 
fiiled to do as long as he lived. Francis, in return, granted him 
participation in all the spiritual merits of his Order, and gave him 
the name of father of the Friars Minor. 



* Matt, xvii, 26. 

t The law of Moses allowed grapes to be eaten in a neighboring vineyard, 
but not lo i)e carried away; and we see in the Gospel that the disciples of 
Jesus Christ, being hungry, and passing through cornfields, gathered the ears 
and ate them. Deuter. xxiii, 24, 25, and Matt, xii, I. 



124 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

It is from this precedent that the superiors of the Order give 
letters of fiHation, as they are called, in virtue of which the holders 
participate in the merits of all the practices of the community. 
This is grounded on the communion of saints, one of the articles 
of the apostolic symbol by which each member of the faithful who 
is not excummunicated, and principally if he be in a state of grace, 
participates in the good works of others.* Besides this general 
communication, the faithful may assist each other by their prayers, 
and their own merits, as is done in confraternities and all pious 
associations. This is the way in which the Order of St. Francis, 
and all other religious orders, manifest their gratitude to their 
benefactors ; in this they do that which St. Augustine says of the 
ministers of Jesus Christ in regard to the faithful who support them ; 
^*They give spiritual things, and only receive temporal ones ; they 
give gold, and only receive grass. ''f Those who know what the 
communion of saints is, and who neglect nothing which can 
contribute to their salvation, have great esteem (as, indeed, they 
ought) for letters of filiation, and strive to live in a Christian-like 
manner in order to profit by them. 

From Catalonia, Francis continued his route through Roussillon, 
and it is believed that he placed some of his religious at 
Perpignan, the capital. He then entered Languedoc, which the 
errors and arms of the Albigenses had alike tended to desolate. 
The Catholics ;j; at that time enjoyed some calm by the valor 
of the illustrious Simon, Count of ]\Iontfort, who had just over- 
thrown ihe heretics, principally by the celebrated victories obtained, 
at ]\Iuret, over Peter, king of Aragon, whom ill-understood 
interests had made protector of the Albigenses, to the detriment 
of religion, and who was killed in that battle. The saintly 
traveller did not make any stay in Languedoc ; perhaps because 
it was the field destined by Providence to be cultivated by St. 
Dominic, whose preaching and miracles had made an infinity of 
conversions, and who was then at Carcassonne, where he gave the 
nuptial benediction to the marriage of Amaury de jMontfort, the 
son of Simon, with the Princess Beatrice, the daughter of the 
D:.uphin, Count of Viennois. Francis arrived at ^Nlontpellier at 
the time when they were about to open the council, at which 
Simon of Montfort was loaded with praises, and chosen to be 
possessor of the city of Toulouse, and the other conquests of the 
Crusaders ; he preached there, and foretold that a convent would 
be built there for his brethren in the hospital where he lodged ; 
a prophecy which was fulfilled in the year 1220. 

* S. Amb. de Offic. lib. I, c. 29. St. August, in Joan. Tract 32, n. 7 and 8. 
t Id. Serm. 3, in Psalm 103, n. 9. 

t See the history of the Crusades against the Albigenses by Father 
Langlois of the Society of Jesus, 1703. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 1 25 

His bad health, the fatigues of his journey, and the rigor of 
the season, had brought him into a state of great languor, and 
compelled him to stop one day. His malady gave him a disgust 
for all sorts of meat, and he thought that he could only relish 
some wild fowl. As he was speaking of it to his companion 
Bernard, a well-appointed cavalier brought him one ready dressed, 
saying, ''Servant of God, take what the Lord sends thee," after 
which he disappeared. Francis, admiring the goodness of God, 
who fulfils the desires of those who fear Him,* ate willingly of 
this celestial food, and was so strenghtened by it, that he rose up 
immediately and continued his journey through Dauphiny and 
Piedmont ; from whence he went to St. Mary of the Angels, 
continuing to perform the functions of an apostle and Patriarch 
of the Order on his way, but not without having to endure the 
honors which his miracles and the reputation of his sanctity 
procured him from all parts. 

His return was the subject of great rejoicing to his children, to 
Clare in particular, and to a number of young men, among whom 
were many nobles and many learned persons who were waiting to 
be received into the Order. 

He was surprised to find a building which Peter of Catania, his 
vicar, had had constructed during his absence ; he inquired the 
reason of it, and Peter having replied, '' that it was for the accom- 
modation of their guests, where they might say the divine office 
more commodiously." ''Brother Peter," he said, "this placp is 
the rule and the model of the Order ; I choose that those who come 
to it shall suffer, as well as those who live in it, the inconveniences 
of poverty, in order that they may tell others how poorly we live at 
St. Mary's of the Portiuncula ; for if the guests see that they are 
provided with everything they can wish for, they will expect the 
same thing in their provinces, and will say, that they only do as 
they do at Portiuncula, which is the original place of the institution." 
He was desn-ous that the building should be pulled down, and he 
even directed it to be done ; but, upon the representations of the 
need they had of it, he consented to let it stand. They could not 
do without room to lodge the number of people who were drawn 
thither by the rumor of his great virtues, and the multitudes of his 
religious who came from various parts to consult him. 

'rhose whom he had destined for Mount Alvernia, having come 
with several others to congratulate him on his return, informed 
him that Count Orlando had loaded them with fwors ; that they 
were settled on the mountain, and that it was the place, of all others, 
proper for contemplation. 'Hiis gave him a wish to go thither, 
and he set out with three companions, Leo, Masse, and Angelus 

* Ps. cxliv, 19. 



126 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

of Rieti. It was his custom in ti'avelling to name one of those 
who accompanied him as guardian and leader, and he obeyed 
him humbly in all things. On this occasion, he gave this commis- 
sion to Masse, desiring him not to disquiet himself about their 
food, and giving no other instructions, except that the divine ofi&ce 
should be punctually and piously recited, that silence should be 
rigidly observed, and that their deportment should be reserved. 
He preached, as usual, wherever he went, and performed many 
miracles, the principal of which will be spoken of hereafter. 

One night he went into a church which was deserted, in order 
to pass the night in prayer, knowing from experience that the 
Spirit of God was communicated more freely to the soul in quiet 
solitary places. At the beginning of the night, the devils used 
every sort of artifice to interrupt his prayers and to disturb him. 
Then they attacked him in person, as St. Athanasius relates that 
they did St. Anthony,* so that they seemed to come to blows with 
him. The more they annoyed him, the more fervently he prayed, 
and the more strenuously he invoked Jesus Christ with confidence, 
in the words of the prophet : — ''Protect me under the shadow of 
thy wings from these wicked ones who pursue me f'f and he said 
to the devils: — "Spiteful and deceitful spirits, do all you can 
against me, for you can do nothing but what God permits, and 
here I am, ready to suffer with pleasure all the afflictions it is His 
pleasure to send me." Then the devils cast themselves upon him 
with still greater violence ; they pushed him about on all sides, 
they dragged him along the ground and beat him severely. In 
the midst of his sufferings, he exclaimed : — '' My Lord'Jesus Christ, 
I give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits ; this is not one of the least ; 
it is an assured mark of the goodness Thou hast for me. Thou 
punishest my sins in this world to spare me in the next. My 
heart is ready, O my God, my heart is ready to suffer still more if 
such be Thy holy will.'' St. Bonaventure says, that he was often 
tormented in this manner by demons ; but that these proud spirits, 
not being able either to overcome him, or to bear his constancy, 
retired in confusion. Such a resistance would repress all the 
efforts of the tempter when he attacks us invisibly. 

In the morning, he could not disguise from his companions 
what had happened to him, and the extreme weakness which it had 
brought on obliged him to desire his companions to go to the 
neighboring village, to procure him, for the love of God, some 
means of riding on with them. The farmer to whom they applied, 
having learnt that it was for Francis of Assisi, of whom he had 
heard so much good spoken, went to fetch his own ass to carry 
him on, on his mission. 



S. Athan. in vit. S. Anton, n. 5. t Ps, xiv, 10. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 12 J 

On the way, Francis bethought himself of stopping for a short 
time at this farmer's to recruit his strength by some poultiy and 
other dehcacies of the country ; but, wishing to punish himself for 
having merely listened to such a suggestion, he took up a half- 
rotten fowl from a dunghill, and smelt at it, saying to himself: — 
' ' Here, glutton ! here is the flesh of the poultiy that you so anxiously 
wished for; satisfy your longing, and eat as much as you like." 
To support himself, he ate nothing but bread, on which he 
sprinkled ashes, and he drank nothing but water. He blessed 
the house of his host, and promised him very long lineage, who 
should be neither poor nor rich, and who should have conveniently 
all the necessaries of life. The remembrance of this prediction 
has been carefully preserved in this place, and the house still exists, 
bearing the name of St. Francis, where the religious of his Order 
are always charitably received. This is what is taught by the 
apostle : — "That God, by His blessing, gives to charitable persons 
the means of continuing and multiplying their good works. "^ 

The invalid was replaced on the ass, and they took the road to 
Chiusi which they reached by noon. Count Orlando was greatly 
pleased to see them, and would have been but too glad to detain 
them, if only for that day ; but Francis would go as soon as 
dinner was done to Mount Alvernia, whither the count accom- 
panied him. 

The mountain Alvernia is on the confines of l^uscany, not iar 
from Camaldoli, and Val Ombrosa ; it is part of the Apennines, f 
and it rises higher than the adjacent mountains from which it is 
separated : two rivers flow at its foot, the Tiber and the Amo. On 
their sides it has rocks so perpendicular and so smooth that they 
might be mistaken for walls ; and on the side on which the top 
may be reached, no one would dare to attempt the ascent but for 
the number of beech trees and underwood which hide the 
precipices. These trees, which arc very lofty, hide some extensive 
and beautiful pasturages. There was also there abundance of the 
plant called carline or Caroline, J which is a cure for the plague. 

The former, who was their guide, made bold to address him as 
follows : ' ' Brother, I hear much good spoken of you, and I 



* 2 Cor. ix, 8, et seq. 

t Apennines is the common name which is given to the long chain of 
mountains, wliich begins on the coasts of Genoa, and, bending to the S"Uth, 
runs through the whole of Italy till it reaches the straits which separate 
Sicily from the mainland. The Apcnnine is called by Virgil, Pater Apenninus, 
either because it commands several vast forests, or because many rivers liow 
from it, or because its mountains are the highest in Italy. 

t It is the white Chamelian, or Carline thistle ; because it is believed that 
this plant was shown the Emperor Charlemagne by an angel, to cure his 
army of Ihe plague. Wading, ad ann. I2 13. 



128 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

understand that God has shown you great favors, for which you 
are greatly indebted to Him ; strive, then, to be what it is said you 
are, and never to change in order that those who have confidence 
in you may not be deceived ; this is a piece of advice I give you. '* 
Francis, delighted at what he had heard, dismounted, kissed the 
man's feet, thanked him, acknowledging the great mercy of God, 
who had been pleased to cast His eyes on the lowliness of His 
servant. Although this advice came from a poor countryman, it 
was nevertheless the very best that could be given to a saint. vSo 
true it is that no one should be despised, and that the most simple- 
minded persons often say more sensible and more spiritual things 
than men of the greatest genius. 

The same man being very thirsty at the steepest part of the 
mountain, exclaimed loudly : ''I shall die, if I cannot get some- 
thing to drink. '' Francis immediately alighted, threw himself on 
his knees, raised his hands to heaven, and prayed until he knew 
that he had been heard. Then, pointing out a large stone to the 
man, he said, ''Go there quickly, and you will find some living 
water : it is Jesus Christ who, out of His great mercy, makes it 
spring from this rock that you may drink. " The man ran directly, 
found water, and drank as much as he required. No spring had 
ever been known to be in that place, and no water was ever found 
there afterwards. Wonderful goodness of the Almighty, exclaims 
St. Bonaventure, who thus with so much benevolence grants the 
prayers of His servants. 

At length they reached the top of Mount Alvernia, where the 
religious resided. The father w^as well pleased with their dwelling, 
because everything was on a small scale and poor. Count Orlando 
returned in the evening and came back next day, bringing some- 
thing for their dinner. After they had finished their meal, he gave 
orders for the construction of a small chapel under a very tall 
beech tree, and a cell, which Francis had asked him for, and, calling 
the others aside, he said : ' ' Since your founder has given his 
consent to the donation I made you two years ago of this moun- 
tain, you may consider it as yours, and hence both myself and 
mine will be always devoted to your service whenever you shall 
need it. You will not be able to please me more than by 
addressing yourselves to me, looking upon me as your servant ; 
and even, if you will do me that favor, considering me as one of 
your brethren." After the departure of the count, the holy 
Patriarch made them the following discourse, relative to the 
count's kindness, which they took care to commit to writing : 

''My dear children, it is God who thus turns the hearts of the 
faithful towards His little and useless servants, in which He does 
us a very great favor. On what we have hitherto received let us 
place our hopes for what is to come ; if that seems but litde, the 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 1 29 

Lord, who is infinitely liberal,* will add to it by His goodness 
still greater benefits, provided we are faithfial to Him. Let us, 
then, leave to Him the care of all that relates to you,*)* and He 
Himself will feed you, as He fed Elias, Paul, and Anthony in the 
desert. The birds of the air neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into 
bams, yet your heavenly Father nourishes them ;| how much 
more will He do this for His servants ? If He tries you, it will be 
only for a time, for it is written, that He will not suffer the just to 
waver forever ; the eyes of the Lord are on them that fear Him, 
and on them that hope in His mercy to deHver their souls from 
death and feed them in famine. Trust not to the princes of the 
earth, § nor to the charitable offers made you by our benefactor, 
Count Orlando, for cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and 
maketh flesh his arm. || This lord has acted nobly by us, and 
according to His piety ; let us do on our parts what depends on 
us, and fail not therein ; that is to say, let us not have recourse to 
his generosity, as to a treasure of which we are the masters, and in 
that respect let us have the greatest reserve that we may not in any 
respect trench upon holy poverty. Be sure, my dear children, 
that our best resource for providing for our wants, is to have none 
to provide for. If we are truly evangelical poor, the world will 
have compassion upon us, and will generously give us all that is 
necessaiy for our subsistence ; but if we swerve from holy poverty, 
the world will shun us ; the illicit means which we might take for 
avoiding indigence, would only make us feel it the more/' Is not 
such a discourse sufficient to show us, that St. Francis had great 
talents and judgment, joined to great knowledge of the practice of 
virtue } 

Count Orlando had a church built in Mount Alvernia, according 
to the plan which the Saint had given him, which, it was confidently 
said, had been given to him by the Blessed Virgin, who appeared 
accompanied by St. John Baptist, and St. John the Evangelist. 

While they were at work at this building and at the cells for the 
brethren, Francis explored the mountain on all its sides, to discover 
the sites best adapted for contemplation. He found one, where 
there were some large openings in the rock, great masses over- 
hanging them, deep caverns, and frightful pits ; and what seemed 
to him to be most curious, there was a rock so split that the interior 
formed a room with a smooth flooring, and a sort of ceiling which 
had a small opening which admitted the light. He was anxious 
to know whether this was the natural formation of the rock, or 
whether it was not the effect of an earthquake ; and, after having 
recited the seven penitential Psalms, he begged God to grant him 

* 2 Rcf^. xii. 3, t Ps. liv, 25. t ^f^^^l- vi' -('- 

^ I's. xxxii, 8. llJcr. xvii, 5. 



130 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

information on this head. An angel acquainted him, in an 
apparition, that this had happened at the death of Jesus Christ, 
when the earth shook and the rocks were rent asunder. This 
circumstance gave Mount Alvernia additional value in the eyes of 
the servant of Jesus Christ crucified. He never afterwards saw 
these openings without thinking of the sufferings his Divine 
Master endured on the cross,* and without wishing that his feehngs 
of compassion might break his heart. In the opinion of the holy 
Fathers, the rocks which were rent when Jesus Christ expired were 
reproaches to the Jews for the hardness of their hearts, and this 
reproach falls equally on Christians who are insensible to His 
sufferings, f 

We can have no difficulty in thinking, with Cardinal Baronius, 
that the rocks on Mount Alvernia were split at the death of our 
Saviour, since the earthquake was univei"sal, according to the 
opinions of Eusebius, St. Jerome, and many others, and even 
according to the testimony of pagan authors. 

It is also very credible that the Son of God has manifested to 
His special servants, some of the effects of this motion of the 
earth, in order to impress more vividly on their minds the remem- 
brance of His passion : and may we not think that the Lord, who 
is the beholder of all ages, J as the wise man says, and who had 
selected Mount Alvernia as the place in which He would do His 
servant Francis the favor of imprinting the stigmata on him, as we 
shall see further on, was pleased to give this mountain some 
resemblance to that of Calvary, where St. Cyril of Jerusalem 
assures us, that in his time the rents caused b) the earthquake 
were seen ? § 

Among the masses of rock on Mount Alvernia, there is one 
much more elevated and much larger than the rest, and which is 
separated from them by precipices, to which there is no access but 
by throwing a brigde across. There, as in an insulated citadel, a 
celebrated brigand had his stronghold, who was called the Wolf, 
on account of the plunder and murders he committed in the 
surrounding country, either by himself, or by the gang of which 
he was the chief He often, also, by means of a fiymg bridge, 
confined travellers in this place, whom he had surprised on the 
high-roads, and whom he detained till their ransom was paid. 
The establishment of Francis and his brethren displeased him 
greatly : people of that sort do not like having neighbors. He 
gave them several times notice to begone, and he threatened them 
should they not obey. Their great poverty gave them nothing to 
fear from thieves, but there was just cause for apprehending that 

^ Matt, xxvii, 51. t S. Hieron. in Amos. cap. 3. 

t Ecclus. xxxvi, 19. ^S S. Cyril. 



S. FRAxNXIS OF ASSISl. I3I 

the murderer might massacre them all. Divine Providence, how- 
ever, saved them by a change which might well be called the work 
of the Most High.* The villain came one day determined upon 
expelling them, and used the most atrocious language to them. 
Francis received him with so much mildness, listened to him with 
so much patience, and induced him by degrees to hear reason, so 
that his anger entirely fell, and he not only consented to their 
remaining, but he begged that they would admit him into their 
poor dwelling. He witnessed during several days their angelic 
mode of life, and he became so changed, that he determined upon 
adopting a similar plan. The Saint perceiving that from a 
ravenous wolf he was become a gentle lamb, gave him the habit 
of the Order, and the name of Brother Agnello, under which he 
expiated his crimes by reHgious penance, of which he rigidly 
fulfilled all the duties. This fact was of such notoriety, that the 
rock to which he used to retire has always been called since, and 
is still known, by the name of Brother Wolfs prison. 

All things being put in order at Mount Alvernia, he left it to 
go to Rome. He passed through Monte Casale, Fabriano, Osimo, 
Ancona, Macerata, Ascoli, Camerino, and many other places, 
preaching in all the truths of salvation, gaining disciples, found- 
ing houses for his Order, prophesying and working miracles ; we 
shall only put on record here the most remarkable, and those that 
are most edifying. 

God favored him, as He had done St. Ambrose, with power of 
discovering relics which were hidden. He knew by revelation 
that there were some in a certain churchf in which he had prayed, 
and some business calling him away from thence, he communi- 
cated the circumstance to his brethren, desiring them to take them 
from thence and place them in a more suitable situation ; but 
they either through forgetfulness or neglect did not do so. One 
day as they were preparing the altar for mass, they found under 
the altar-cloth some beautiful bones, from which a sweet perfumed 
smell issued, and they immediately recollected that these were the 
relics of which their father had spoken. At his return he inquired 
whether they had been disinterred, and the religious, having told 
him exactly what had occurred, he said : ''Blessed be the Lord, 
my God, who, of PI is goodness, has done what you ought to have 
done out of obedience ; ' but he imposed a penance upon them 
in expiation of their fault. At the monastery of Monte Alaggiore, 
a joy and interior consolation which he felt on entering the church, 
made him sensible that the high altar contained something which 
had been used by the Blessed Virgin. J He spoke of it to the 



Ps. Ixxvi, 10. t Paulin. in vit. S. Ambros. 

t S. dirvs. lloniil. 26. 



1^2 ^ S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

religious, who searched narrowly, and found that it w^as true. In 
ecclesiastical histor}^ we find that God had often caused the relics 
of His saints to be discovered, in order to do them honor, and 
the holy Fathers have taught the faithful to venerate them. There 
are only heretics who have been capable of treating them with 
contempt and profaning them ; they are for the children of the 
Church a tender object of devotion, and a pledge of the Divine 
protection. 

While he was preaching at Fabriano in the middle of the 
market-place, some workmen who were employed at a palace 
made so much noise, that it prevented his being heard. Having 
entreated them to be quiet for a short time, to which they paid 
no attention, he said that the work of those who were building 
the house would be of no use, because the Lord did not build it, 
but that it would soon fall ; however, that neither man nor beast 
would be injured by it ; and this happened but a few days after it 
had been finished, as he had foretold. He assured the people at 
the same town, that at a place called the Poor Valley, his brethren, 
who were poor, would some day have a habitation. And, in fact, 
in the year 1292, the town of Fabriano placed Friars Minor there. 

Among the most considerable establishments which he placed 
on his route, was that of St. Mary of the Stcny Valley, so called 
from its being situated in a Ytry rocky valley, between two moun- 
tains, four miles distant from Fabriano. It was a church dedicated 
to the Blessed Virgin, with a monastery, which the religious of 
St. Benedict had abandoned in order to take refuge in the town, 
on account of the wars, and it is one of the most beautiful solitudes 
of all Italy. Devotion to the Mother of God, and the love of 
retreat, had induced Francis to ask for this place ; and it was 
given him by those w^ho were its proprietors. The first time he 
went there, he lost his w^ay, wath his companion, and asked a 
ploughman to take him to the valley. ''What,'"' says the man, 
•'shall I leave my plough and lose my time, to serve you.?'' 
However, he took him to the place, mollified by Francis' mildness, 
and by his promising him that he should be no loser by so doing : 
on returning, after receiving the Father's blessing, he found his 
field quite ploughed. 

Some workmen who were employed repairing a house which 
had been given him, at a place called Trabe Bonata, being very 
tired, asked him to give them some wine. He sent two of his 
brethren to procure some in a neighboring village, from some 
charitable benefactor ; but the workmen being very urgent, out 
of compassion for them he went to a spring, made the sign of \ 
the cross over it, and in an instant, instead of water, wine issued 
from it, which flowed for a whole hour. Those who drank of it 
puf'lishcd in all places th^' miraculous effect f^f the Saint's charity. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 1 33 

In a parish called La Citta, he was veiy well received by the 
Curate, whose name was Raniero, with whom he became very 
intimate, so that he was in the habit of visiting him, and going to 
confession to him. One day after confession he gave him, in a 
very humble manner, notice, that he, the Curate, would become 
one of his brethren, because they had become too closely united 
to live different kinds of lives: ''But,'' he said, ''this will not 
happen till after my death/'' The event verified the prediction : 
as soon as the Curate learnt that his friend Francis shone by an 
infinity of miracles, and was just canonized, he entered the Order 
of Friars Minor, and adhered to the rules with great rugularity. 

The holy man coming to Osimo, he was met, notwithstanding 
his great humility, and brought into the town, with great honors. 
The next day he preached on the vanity of the world, in so per- 
suasive a strain, that all his hearers, penetrated with compunc- 
tion, turned their thoughts seriously to their reformation, and 
thirty young men entered his Institute. 

In the same journey, he and his companion lodged at the house 
of a gentleman, the greatness of whose soul equalled. the antiquity 
of his nobility, and whose politeness was jomed to piety. ■ The 
welcome he received there was followed by this open-hearted 
proffer: "Man of God," he said, "I place my person at your 
disposal, and all that I possess, all is yours, do as you please with 
it ; if you want clothing, or a cloak, or books, or whatever it may 
be, take it, and I will pay for it. Be assured that I am wholly at 
your service. God has given me wealth ; I have wherewithal to 
assist the poor, and it is but just that I do not fail in so doing." 

Francis merely at the time contented himself with making those 
grateful acknowledgments which so handsome and obliging an 
offer required ; but when he left him, he could not refrain from 
admiring the generosity of this gentleman, and he said to his 
companion : "Indeed, brother, he would be an excellent subject 
for our Order ; he is humbly thankful for what he has received 
from God ; he loves his neighbor very sincerely ; he gives willingly 
10 the poor ; and he exercises hospitality from his heart ; he is 
extremely* affable and polite; and politeness is sister to charity; 
it puts down contention and promotes concord ; he is naturally 
benevolent ; and this feeling is highly pleasing to our Father who 
is in heaven, who causes th^ sun to rise on the good and on the 
wicked.* So many excellent qualities which I see in this young 
man, make me wish to have him to be one of us, and I should admit 
him with pleasure. We must pay him another visit, and exhort 
him to devote himself to the service of God ; perhaps the Holy 
Ghost may incline him to do so ; meanwhile let us implore the 

*Matt. V, 45. 



134 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 



Lord to grant our wish, if He judges it right." In fact, they did 
pray for this purpose. 

Some days afterwards they returned to this person's house, who 
had the curiosity to watch what Francis did in the night ; he saw 
him in prayer, and in an ecstasy raised from the ground, and 
surrounded by a splendid Hght, and he felt interiorly a certain 
celestial fire, which inspired him with an ardent desire to imitate 
his mode of life. In the morning, he communicated his feelings 
to the Saint, who was already made aware of them by revelation, 
and who thanked the Giver of all good gifts for them. The pos- 
tulant gave all he had to the poor, took the habit of a Friar Elinor, 
and lived holily ; presemng always the same affable and polite 
manners, with which he received the guests of the cbnvents in 
which he resided, which endeared him still more to the Patriarch, 
who was ver\^ zealous in the exercise of hospitalit}\ The duties 
of hospitality, lauded by the pagans, taught by the Gospel, en- 
forced by the Apostles, and all the holy Fathers, are exercised in 
the Order of St. Francis with so much the more care as, being 
totally dependent on charity, they consider themselves bound to 
give all in the same manner, and they apply to themselves these 
words of the Son of God to the Apostles, on the gift of miracles : 
''' Freely you have received, freely give.'"^ This is what draws 
down the blessing of God, and which makes so many houses 
subsist, without any revenue, by the charity of the faithful. 

The holy patriarch of the Friars ]Minor arrived at Rome when 
ever}^thing was preparing for the opening of the Twelfth QEcumeni- 
cal Council, the 4th of Lateran, one of the most numerous ever 
held in the Church.^ Innocent III had convoked it for the 
extinction of heresies, for the reformation of morals, for regulating 
the discipline of the Church, and for the revover}^ of the Holy 
Land by the union of the Christian princes. 

Francis came to Rome to induce the sovereign pontiff to give a 
public approval to the Rule of his Order, which was of the highesl 
importance in order that the prelates might have it in their power 
to distinguish the poor of Jesus Christ true children of the Church, 
from certain sectaries of those times who affected, as has been 
already said, to bear the marks of apostolic poverty. 

What the ser^-ant of God required was put in force ; the pope 
declared before all the Fathers of the Council, that he approved 
the Order and the Rule of St. Francis, J although he had hitherto 



* Matt. X, 8. t Ursperg. ad ann. 1215. 

t Thus when tlie second general Council of Lyons, abolishing all orders 
instituted since the Lateran Council, declares that this does not extend to 
those of the Preachers and Minors, because of the services the Church 
receives from them, it sufficiently s]i<»\v< ijmt it a]>pi-nvo> of them; it means 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 1 35 

issued no Bull. This is a fact which is related by the companions 
of the Saint who wrote his Hfe, and by two authors of the Order 
of St. Dominic, Jordan of Saxony, a disciple of that blessed 
Patriarch, and St. Antoninus."^ Moreover, in order to avoid too 
great a variety of religious orders, the council prohibited the 
formation of any new ones, and directed that the existing ones 
should be considered sufficient, and it is clear that the pope could 
not, in this instance, avoid making known the approbation he had 
given to an Order so new and peculiar as was that of the Friars 
IMinor, who, in the last five years, had spread over Italy, and were 
established in Rome. 

The holy friendship which was subsequently formed between 
St. Dominic and St. Francis, renders it proper that we should 
here record that St. Dominic came also to this Lateran Council, 
together wit!i Fulke, bishop of Toulouse, in order to propose to 
the pope an intention he had of instituting an order of preachers, 
and I that the pope had seen in a dream St, Dominic supporting 
the Lateran church, which was falling, in the same way as he had 
seen Francis supporting it ^we years before. He praised his 
undertaking, but told him, according to the decree of the council, 
to return with his brethren, and prepare a rule for the guidance of 
the order, and then come back to have the order confirmed, 
which the holy patriarch complied with. 

The Council of Lateran having terminated its labors, J Francis 
left Rome at the beginning of December to return to St. Mary of 
the Angels, after having sent circular letters to the houses of the 
Order, convoking the general chapter, which was to meet in that 
convent at Whitsuntide of the following year. 

When he had reached his convent, Clare, who, being very 
humble, had accepted only through obedience the quality of 
abbess of St. Damian, wished to throw it up into his hands, to 
which he would by no means assent, because he knew that by 
the disposition of Divine Providence, she w^as to form the disciples 
who were to establish his Order in various places, from whence it 
was to spread throughout the Church. 

merely to imply that those two orders were only solemnly sanctioned by 
Bulls, subsequent to the Lateran Council. For, as to the verbal approba- 
tion, it is certain that Innocent III gave it in 1210 to the Minors, and St. 
Bonaventure expressly says so, and we shall see that Honorius III also 
says so in the Bull which he issued in 1223, when he confirmed the rule. 
As to the Order of Preachers, it was approved by Innocent III, at the 
Lateran Council in 1215. and confirmed at Rome, in 1216^ by the Bull of 
Honorius 111. 

* Jord. de Sax. dc vit. Frat. lib. i, cap, 24. S. Anton, chron. 

t Joid. dc Sax. MS. cap. 20, 21, and 22. Theod. ad AppoUl. vit. S. Domin. 

I Tlie Council sat twenty days ; from the feast of S. Martin to that of S. 
Andrew. 



136 S. FRANCIS OV ASSISr. 

Clare had admitted many virgins during the three years she had 
presided over St. Damian, among whom were some of her own 
relatives. Beatrice, the youngest of her sisters, came a short time 
afterwards ; and Hortolona, her mother, as soon as she became a 
widow, decided upon consecrating herself to God, with her three 
daughters, in the same monaster}', where miracles testified to the 
holiness of her life. Finally, the virtues of Clare were so resplen- 
dent, and the miracles which it pleased the Almight}' to work by 
her means, threw so much splendor around her, that, according 
to the remark of Pope Alexander IV, in the Bull of her canoniza- 
tion."^ the truth of the prediction which was made to her mother, 
was clearly seen : — •'That she would give to the world a light 
which would even enlighten the world/' The sequel of the life 
of the Father will atford further opportunity for speaking of the 
daughter. 

The Benedictines of ]Mount Soubazo, in this year, gave the holy 
Patriarch a convent on this ver}' mountain, two miles from Assisi. 
It has been called the prison of St. Francis, because he often shut 
himself up there in contemplation after his apostolical labors. 
His orator}' is still seen there : his cell, the stone and the wood 
which served him for bed and pillow, and a copious spring which, 
by his intercession, he obtained from God. 

From the beginning of the following year, 12 16, to the 30th of 
]\Iay, the festival of Whitsuntide, the day on which the general 
chapter was held, which was the first y of the Order, he had as 
much leisure as he could desire for conversing with God, for 
giving instruction to his brethren at St. ^lar}^ of the Angels, and 
to the town of Assisi and its environs. In the assembly, provin- 
cial ministers were appointed, to whom power was given for 
admitting postulants into the Order ; which the founder had 
previously reserved to himself One whose name does not appear, 
was sent mto Apulia, but John de Strachia was sent into Lom- 
bardy ; Benedict of Arezzo, into the Marches of Ancona ; Daniel 
the Fuscan, into Calabria ; Augustin of Assisi, kito the Terra di 
Lavoro ; Elias of Cortona, into Tuscany. Evangelical laborers 
were chosen for diiYerent nations. Bernard de Quintavalle, for 
Spain ; John Bonella, a Florentine, with thirty companions, for 
Provence ; John de Penna, and sixt}' of his brethren, for Upper 
and Lower Germany : Francis took for his share Paris and what 
is properly called France and the Lov/ Countries. 

Those who were destined for distant countries were not dis- 



* Bollar. Rom. torn. I. 
t This is what Wading proves against those who assert that the general 
chapter of 12 19, called the Chapter of the Beads, was the first. Ad ann. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 1 37 

satisfied ; each one went to the department allotted to him with 
pleasure, as if it had been that of his own choice. This was a 
proof of their virtue, and a favorable omen for the combats they 
were about to have with the devils, because obedience alone 
carries off the palm,"^ according to the words of the Scripture; 
and that, in the opinion of the holy Fathers, those who, for the love 
of God, submit their will to the will of others, are conquerors 
to whom it is given to exercise great authority over the fallen 
angels, whose degradation was brought about by disobedience and 
rebellion, f 

The apostolic laborers being all assembled at the feet of their 
Father, to receive his orders, he addressed them with paternal 
tenderness, in the following discourse : — 

''In the Name of the Lord, go forth modestly, two and two, 
observing strict silence from the morning till after the hour of 
Tierce, praying to God from your hearts. Let no idle or useless 
words be heard among you ; although you are travelling, your 
deportment should be as humble and as decorous as if you were 
in a hermitage, or in your cells. For v/herever we are, and, 
whithersoever we may be going, we have always our vocatibn with 
us ; our brother, the body, is our cell, and the soul is the hermit, 
who dwells in it to think of God and to pmy to Him. If a 
religious soul does not dwell quietly in the cell of the body, the 
external cells will be of little use to him. Behave, then, in such 
manner in the world, that whosoever may see or hear you, may 
be moved to devotion, and praise our Heavenly Father to whom 
alone all glory belongs. Proclaim peace to all men, but have it 
in your hearts, as well as in your mouths. Give to no one cause 
for anger, nor for scandal ; on the contrary, by your own mildness, 
induce every one to feel benignly, and draw them to union and 
to concord. We are called to heal the wounded, console the 
afflicted, and to bring back those who err ; many may seem to 
you to be members of the devil, who will one day be disciples of 
Jesus Christ." What Francis said of the inutility of exterior cells, 
where the soul is not at ease in the cell of the body, is in con- 
formity to these words of St. Bernard 4 — ''You maybe alone 
when you are in the midst of the world, as it may so happen that 
you may be in the midst of the world when you are alone." § 

The children of the holy Patriarch received his blessing ; and 

* Prov. xxi, 28. t S. August, in Ps. Ixx, serm. 2, n. 7. 

t Many beautiful things on this head may be seen in the letttrr to the 
Caiilmsians of Mont Dieu, attributed to S. Bernard, but which MabiUon 
thinks vvas written by WiUiam, Abbot of S. Thierry, near Rheims. This sen- 
tence is found in it: *'Cum quo Deus est, nunquani minus soUis est, quani 
cum sohis est." Oper. S. Bernard, torn. 5. P^'^- '^^^ J''-^^- 'l"^' Moi.le 
J^«-'- '-■•ip- ^- V*^ Serm. 40. in Canl. n. 5. 



138 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

having recommended themselves to the prayers of their companions, 
they set out for those places to which obedience sent them. The 
success of the several labors will be adverted to further on. The 
missionaries for Provence remained some days after the breaking 
up of the chapter, to receive further instructions relative to their 
mission. The day of their departure, there were only three loaves 
of bread in the convent, two of which had been sent there by Clare ; 
these were found sufficient for more than thirty who were there, 
and there was a great deal to spare, a circumstance which was 
considered to be a good omen. 

Francis, having animated all the others by his zeal, prepared 
himself for setting out for Paris. Besides the natural affection he 
had for PVance, of which he liked the language, as it was familiar 
to him, he chose this city preferably to many others, because he 
knew that their devotion was great towards the blessed sacrament, 
and this was a great attraction for his piety. 

May the Parisians ever entertain and transmit to their posterity 
this fervent devotion of their ancestors, which Pope Urban IV.,* 
who was a native of France, stirred up in the hearts of the faithful 
forty-six years afterwards, by the institution of the Feast of the 
Most Holy Sacrament, which is celebrated throughout the Church, 
with so much solemnity. The bull which he issued on this 
occasion, enters into the strongest and most moving arguments 
calculate! to inspire veneration, love, and the zeal which the 
precious memorial of the goodness of the Son of God calls for, 
and to invite to a frequent and worthy participation in the divine, 
mystery, which the Council of Trent has since expressed its anxiety 
to see reestablished. f 

Before his departure, Francis undertook to reconcile the members 
of the illustrious family of the Baselennesi, a long time disunited 
by unhappy family dissensions, and he succeeded to the satisfaction' 
of all parties. Out of gratitude they had built for him, on one of 
their estates on a spot near the Tiber, surrounded with very 
beautiful trees, a convent called St. Angel of Pantanellis. 

He chose to go once more to Rome to recommend to the Holyj 
Apostles his journey to France. On the road, having seated! 
himself close to a spring to take his meal, he put some pieces of I 
bread, which had been given to him on his quest, and which weref 
very hard and mouldy, on a stone near him ; he expressed much^ 
satisfaction, and he pressed his companion ]\Iasse to give thanks) 
to God for so great a treasure ; and he repeated several times the* 
same thing, elevating his voice more and more. ''But of what 
treasure are you talking," said Masse, ''at a time when we are in 
want of many things ?'' "The great treasure is," replied Francis, 



* Bullar Rom. torn, i, An. 1262. t Sess. 13. cap. 3, and Sess. 22, cap, 6. 



S. FRA^'CIS OF ASSISI. 



139 



'* that, being in want of so much, God has had the goodness to 
furnish us by His providence with that bread and this spring, and 
to find us this stone to serve as a table. " 

He went shortly after into a church, where he prayed to God to 
give him and his children the love of holy poverty ; and his 
prayer was so fervent that fire seemed to issue from his countenance. 
Full of this celestial ardor, he went towards Masse with open 
arms, calling him by name with a loud voice ; Masse, in great 
astonishment, going to throw himself into the arms of his Father, 
was raised into the air several cubits high, and felt such sweetness 
in his soul, that he frequently afterwards declared that he had 
never experienced anything like it. After this ecstasy, Francis 
spoke to him on the subject of poverty in an admirable strain, 
which we shall relate hereafter. 

When at Rome, in a chapel of the church of St. Peter, while 
he was praying with tears that the holy Apostles would give him 
instructions on the subject of holy poverty and of an apostolic life, 
they appeared to him surrounded by lights, and, after tenderly 
embracing him, said: '^Brother Francis, our Lord Jesus Christ 
has sent us to tell you that He has fa^vorably heard your prayers 
and tears on the subject of holy poverty, which He Himself had 
followed, as well as His Blessed Mother, and we, who are His 
Apostles, after his example. This treasure is granted to you for 
yourself arid for your children ; those who shall carefully adhere to 
it, will have the kingdom of heaven for their reward." The 
servant of God, filled with consolation, went to his companion 
Masse, to whom he communicated what had passed, and they 
wenl together to give thanks at the place which is called the 
Confession of St. Peter, which is his tomb. 

While Francis was at Rome, Pope Innocent HI died at Perugia. * 
He was of the illustrious house of the Counts of Segni, which 
has given five popes to the Church, the last of whom was Innocent 
XIII, of blessed memory. It was at the University of Paris that 
his merit was first noticed ; he shone there above the many who 
were its honor and its ornament. It was his rare and transcen- 
dent qualities which niduced the cardinals unanimously to elect 
him to the pontificate ; and these (]ualities shone with additional 
splendor when his humility urged his resistance to the election, 
from which he prayed with unaffected tears to be released. His 
government and the works he has left to posterity, show, that he had 
great genius, great science, prudence, and probity, with solid piety, 
and ardent zeal. '' He was,'^ says a French contemporary writer, 
*'a man of great courage and great wisdom, who had no equal in 



* He died on the i6th of July, after havini; held tlie keys sixteen years six 
months and nin(^ diivs. 



I40 S. FKANXIS OF ASSISI. 

his day, and who did marvellous things. "'* He was indeed one of 
the most eminent men who have filled the chair of St. Peter. The 
affection he bore to Francis, and the favors he conferred on his 
Order, have compelled us to do this justice here to his memor}^, 
which no good author has refused him.f 

On the 1 8th of July, they elected for his successor Cardinal 
Savelli, who took the name of Honorius III. He was a learned 
and worthy man. He generally followed the designs of his pre- 
decessor, and had a similar affection for the religious orders, of 
w^hich he gave substan4-:al proofs in the favors he bestowed on that 
of St. Francis. 

Some months after his election, he gave his approval of the 
Order of St Dominic. - This holy patriarch having returned to 
his companions to fix upon a rule, as had been recommended 
to him by Pope Innocent at the Lateran Council, and having 
adopted the rule of St. Augustine, to which he had added some 
more austere regulations, came back to Rome to procure the 
approval of the Holy See. While he solicited it from Honorius, 
who had arrived from Perugia, he made acquaintance and con- 
tracted an intimacy with Francis, in consequence of a miraculous 
vision which he had in the church of St. Peter, where he prayed 
unceasingly with great fervor for the success of his enterprise. 

He saw the Son of God seated on the right hand of His Father, 
who rose up greatly irritated against sinners, holding three darts 
in His hand, for the extirpation of the proud, the avaricious, and 
the voluptuous. His holy ^lother threw herself at His feet, and 
prayed for mercy, saying that she had persons who would remedy 
the evil ; and she at the same time introduced to Him Dominic 
and Francis, as being proper persons for reforming the world, and 
reestablishing piety ; this pacified Jesus Christ, [j; 

Dominic, who had never seen Francis, met him next day, 
recognized him, ran to him and embraced him, saying: " ^'ou 
are my companion ; we will work in concert with each oilier ; let 
us be strictly united, and no one will be able to master us." 
Francis himself communicated this favor of Heaven to the children 

1^1 • * Rigord. torn. 5, Hist. Franc. Script, page 66. 

t There is only Math. Paris who has ventured to cahimniate this great 
Pope. But he is a writer whose credit is very low with equitable men, i 1 
consequence of the mahgnant and inveterate hokilitv he evinces against all 
the Popes, which renders him on this head unworthy' of belief. The W'>rk of 
this calumniator has only been quoted by Protestants in order to give support 
to their invectives againsrthe Holy See. See Baron ius ad ann. 396, n. 62. 
One is disgusted at finding in an Ecclesiastical History, written in the vulgar 
tongue, the atrocious and false accusations of Math. Paris against the memory 
of the great and holy Pope Innocent HI., and this is not the only part of the 
history alluded to that excites indignation. 

i Theodor. ab Appold. in vit. S. Dominic, lib. 2, cap. I. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. I4I 

of Dominic : and St. Vincent Ferrer, and some other authors 
quoted by Wading, say that Francis had received a similar favor 
from Heaven.* The event proved the truth of the visioii. Dom' 
inic alone, without any human aid, having nothing to command 
success but poverty, humility, and prayer, obtained the approba- 
tion of his order, which was an affgiir of great difficulty, parti- 
cularly at the commencement of a pontificate, when the pope is 
occupied by most important affairs. 

We may here notice the ground\^^ork of the ardent zeal of the 
Friars Preachers and the Friars Minor for the gloiy of the Mother 
of God. Persuaded that their orders were established under her 
protection, and that she is especially the mother of their holy 
patriarchs, they strive by every means in their power to restore the 
devout veneration due to her. It is the common interest of all 
the faithful who see that she is, according to the expression of the 
holy Fathers, their advocate and their mediatrix ; that she prays 
and solicits for them ; that she interposes between them and the 
wrath of her Son, and appeases Him : this affords great room 
for confidence in her, and should induce them to invoke her for 
their conversion and sanctification. 

Dominic and Francis, confident of the protection of the Blessed 
Virgin, entered into a strict friendship, and resolved to spare no 
pains in their exertions for the glory of God, and concerted 
together as to the best means for attaining their object, f Upon 
which an author quoted by Wading, makes a most appropriate 
reOection :J '' It was," he says, "something admirable to see 



* S. Anthon. chron. part 3, lib. 23, cap. 3, Wad. ad ann. 1216, n. 16, Bzov. 
supra, Bullar. Rom. torn. I, Honor. 3. S. Iren. lib. 3. 

t In the circular letter which Humbert. General of the Friars Preachers, and 
John of Parma, General of the Friars Minor, addressed to the two orders in 
1255, and which was adopted in the following year by S. Bonaventure, in 
which the two patriarchs are praised by beautiful comparisons taken from 
Scripture, we read these affecting words : '^Consider, dear brethren, with what 
sincerity you are bound to love each other; you, whom our holy mother the 
Church brought forth at the same time; you, whom similar engagements 
constitute real brothers; you, whom the goodness of God has equally 
destined from all eternity to undertake the same work, which is the salvation 
of souls. O what charity, what concord do not our sainted Fathers 
Dominic and Francis, and the first religious of our orders, require from us, 
they who loved each other so tenderly, and gave each other sv.ch proofs of it ; 
who looked upon each other as angels ; loaded each other with civilities ; aided 
each other, as Jesus Christ has aided us all ; shared in the common progress 
of the orders ; praised and assisted each other, and took the greatest care to 
avoid the smallest thing likely to give the slightest Scandal or annoyance to 
either order." All the letter is in a similar style, and loses nothing of its 
beauty after five centuries, and is calculated to make as much impression 
now on the religious as when first sent. Chron. Prsedic. Wading, Annal. 
Min. ad an. 1216. 

t Ferdinand. Castilio. apud. Wad. ad ann. 1126, n. 16. 



, 



14^? S. FRANCIS UF ASSISI. 

t\vo men. \vho were poor, badly clad, without power or interest, 
despicable in the eyes of the world, divide between them the world 
itself, and undertake to conquer it Who would not have turned 
into ridicule hearing them seriously consult together on such an 
undertaking, which they seemed to have so little means of 
carrying into execution ? Nevertheless, they succeeded : because 
w^hat is weak and powerless in the eyes of the world, God selected 
by their means to confound what is strong."* It is a resemblance 
of St Peter and St Paul, proposing to themselves, in the same 
cit}' of Rome, to convert the universe by the preaching of the 
Gospel ; and this shows that God made use of similar means for 
reanimating the faith, to those which He had employed to 
establish it 

It is reported, that while Dominic and Francis were still at 
Rome.f Angelus, of the order of the Carmelites, who was after- 
wards martyred in Sicily, was also there ; that, preaching in the 
church of St John Lateran, where the two others were among the 
hearers, he foretold that they would become two great pillars of 
the Church ; that when the sermon was finished, they foretold to 
one another what would happen to each of them, and even that 
Francis would receive the stigmata ; that the three together cured 
a man afflicted with leprosy, and passed a day and a night together 
in prayer and conversing on holy subjects. 

Francis left Rome at the end of the year, intending to continue 
his journey into France. He passed through Sienna and by 
Mount Alvemia and arrived at Florence in the month of January, 
1 2 1 7, to pay his dutiful respects to Cardinal Ugolino, who was 
Papal Legate there. This cardinal, who had declared himself his 
protector and his friend, when he went to request the approbation 
of his rule from Pope Innocent HI., in 1210, received him with 
great kindness, detained him some days, inquired into the affairs 
of his Order, and said to him on the subject of his journey : 
''Francis, your Order is still in its infancy. You know the 
opposition it met with in Rome, and you have still there some 
secret enemies ; if there is not some one there to watch over your 
interests, it will be an easy matter to cause all you have obtained 
to be revoked. Your presence will go a great way in upholding 
your work, and those who are attached to you will have a greater 
stimulus for giving you their support As to myself, I am from 
this moment wholly yours. *' 

The holy man, after having thanked the cardinal, replied : **I 

* I Cor., I, 27. 
t The continuators of Bollandus nnd some chronological difiiciilties in the 
meeting of these holv personages, to which no satisfactory answer has been 
found, and which throw doubts upon it, so that it is not here given as 
certain. 



41 



S. FRANCIS Ol" ASSISI. I43 

have sent many of my brethren into far distant countries. If I 
remain quietly in our convent, without taking any share in their 
labors, it will be a great shame for me ; and these poor religious, 
wlio are suffering hunger and thirst, will have great reason to 
murmur and complain ; but instead of that, if they find that I 
work as much as they do, they will bear their fatigues more 
willingly, and I shall more easily persuade them to undertake 
similar missions." 

The Cardinal, feeling for the sufferings of these missionaries, 
said: ^'But why, brother, have you the harshness to expose 
your disciples to such arduous journeying and to so much suffer- 
ing?'' ''My Lord,'' replied Francis, who was urged by a 
prophetic spirit, ' ' you think that God has sanctioned the Institute 
for this country only ; but I tell you that He has formed it for 
the good of the universe, and for the salvation of all men, without 
excluding the Infidels : for religious of this Order will go into 
their territories ; and provided they live in conformity to the 
Gospel, God will provide amply for all their wants, even among 
the enemies of His name. " 

These words made a great impression on the Cardinal, who 
was a very holy man, and increased his affection for Francis, 
whom he again exhorted in stronger language than before, to 
remain in Italy to consolidate an Institute which was to have 
such beneficial results. The saint having yielded to the reasoning 
of the Cardinal, entreated him to be the protector of the Friars 
Minor, according to his promise, and to be so good as to be 
present at the next general chapter ; after which he took the road 
to the valley of Spoleto. 

There he learnt that some of his brethren had been seriously 
ill-treated by several prelates, and that at the court of Rome there 
were persons who spoke against his Order, This new^s confirmed 
him in the resolution he had taken to remain in Italy ; and he 
named three of his disciples for the French mission, to wit : 
Pacificus of the Marches of Ancona, the celebrated poet, whose 
conversion we have related ; Angelus, and Albert, both of Pisa. 

He likewise intended to request the Pope to nominate a 
Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, to protect his Order against 
all who should attack it. Three of his companions, the writers 
of his life, say, that he was induced to this by a celestial vision in 
his sleep. He saw a hen endeavoring to gather all her chickens 
under her wings, to protect them from a hawk ; she could not 
cover them all, and many were about to become its prey ; but 
another large bird appeared, spread its wings over them, and 
preserved them from the danger. On awakiiig, Francis prayed 
our Lord to explain to him the meaning of this, and he learnt 
that the hen represented himself, and the chickens were his 



144 5-. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

disciples, that the bird with the large wings represented the 
cardinal, whom they were to solicit for their protector. He told 
all this to his brethren, and addressed them as follows : — 

''The Roman Church is the mother of all the churches, and 
the sovereign of all religious orders. It is to her that I shall 
address myself to recommend to her my brethren, in order that 
her authorit}' may silence those who are hostile to them, and that 
she may procure for the children of God full and perfect liberty 
to advance quietly in the way of eternal salvation ;* for when they 
shall be under her protection, there will be no more enemies to 
oppose them, nor disturb them : there will not be seen among 
them any son of Belial to ravage with impunity the \ineyard of the 
Lord. The holy Church will be zealous for the glon- of our 
povert}' ; she will not suffer that the humilit}' which is so honorable 
to her, shall be obscured by the clouds of pride. It is she who 
will render indissoluble among us, the bonds of charit}* and peace, 
rigorously punishing the authors of dissensions. Under her eyes, 
the holy evangelical obser\-ance wiil ever flourish in its pristine 
purity ; she vriW never permit these holy practices to flag even 
momentarily, those practices which shed around them a vidfying 
odor. INIay the children, then, of that holy Church be verv^ grateful 
for the great favors which they receive from their mother ; let them 
kiss her feet ^ith profound veneration, and remain forever 
in\iolably attached to her. '" 

The first words of this discourse show that St. Francis was per- 
fectly cognizant of the prerogatives of the Church of Rome, and of 
the extent of the authorit}' of the Holy See. It w:is not in vain 
that he sought her protection, since his Order was established, 
extended, supported, and sometimes even renovated under this 
powerful authorit}- : and the attachment to the Holy See, which 
he so strongly recommended to his brethren, has been so visibly 
manifested during five centuries, that it has procured for them the 
esteem and love of all Catholics, as well as the hatred of the heretics, 
so that they have the honor of having some share in the eulogiums 
which St Jerome passed on St Augustine: "The Catholics 
esteem and respect you, and, what enhances your glor}', all the 
heretics detest you. They hold me in equal hatred : and if they 
durst not put both the one and the other of us to death, they have 
at least the wish to do so.''"t This wish of the heretics has not 
been without effect as regards the children of St Francis, for of a 
thousand mart}TS which they reckon in his Order, a very great 

^ 3 Reg. V, 4; Nahum, i, 15. 
t Macte ^'i^tute, in orbe celebraris. Catholici te conditorem antiquse 
cursum fidei venerantur atque suspiciunt; el quod signum majoris gloriie est, 
omnes haeretici detestantur; et me pari persequuntur odio, ut quo> glidiis 
nequeunt voto interficiant. Hier. ad Aug^^st. 



I 



S. FRAiN'CIS OK ASSISI. I45 

number of them were put to death with greater cruelty in this and 
latter times by the sectarians than by idolatrous tyrants. Heresy 
will be ever so, the daughter of a parent, who, according to the 
words of Jesus Christ, was a murderer from the begmning. * 

The holy Patriarch went then to Rome, where he found Cardinal 
Ugolino, who was returned from Tuscany, to whom he communi- 
cated the intention he had of soliciting the pope for a protector. 
The cardinal at the same time expressed his wish to hear him 
preach before the pope and the sacred college. Francis excused 
himself from this as much as he could, assigning for reasons, his 
ignorance, his simplicity, and his uncultivated mind, which unfitted 
him for speaking in the most august assembly in the world. But 
he was obliged to yield to the pressing instances of the cardinal, 
who entreated him as a friend to comply, and even ordered him 
to prepare himself for the task, recommending him to compose 
carefully a sermon wherein there should be as ranch erudition and 
reasoning as such an audience required. 

Up to that time, the servant of God had never prepared himself 
for preaching ; he only spoke from the pulpit what the Holy Ghost 
inspired. Nevertheless, he, in this instance, obeyed the cardinal ,- 
he prepared a sermon as carefully as he could, and learned it by 
heart. When he came into the presence of the Pope, he forgot 
every part of the discourse, and could not utter a syllable of it. 
But after having humbly explained the circumstance, and im- 
plored the aid of the Holy Ghost, words flowed copiously from 
his mouth, and he spoke with so much eloquence and animation, 
that the Pope and cardinal were deeply affected, in order, says St. 
Bonaventure, that it might be evident that it was not he who 
spoke, but the Spirit of God that spoke in him. f 

Having been admitted to an audience of the Pope in presence 
of Cardinal Ugolino, he said : " Most holy Father, I am distressed 
at becoming importunate for the interests of your lowly servants, 
the Friars Minor, while you are occupied with so many important 
affairs which regard the whole Church. I entreat you to give us 
this Cardinal, to whom we may have recourse in our wants, 
always under your sanction, since it is from you, the Head of the 
mystical Body, that all power emanates.'' The Pope granted his 
request with alacrity, and recommended the Cardinal to take great 
care of the Order. From that time, the Order of Friars Minor 
have always had a Cardinal Protector, whose powers are extended 
as the Pope shall see fit ; the terms of the Rule, which oblige the 
Order by obedience to apply for one, show, that it was the inten« 
tion of Francis, that his powers should be most ample. 

Cardinal Ugolino was one of the most accomplished men of 

• Joan, viii, 44. * Matt, x, 20. 



146 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

the city of Rome ; * his person well made, his countenance mild 
and majestic, his genius quick, with great memory and eloquence, 
possessing in perfection all human sciences, civil and canon- 
law, and particularly the Holy Scriptures ; he was very expert in 
all public business ; a lover of virtue and order, and of a pure and 
exemplary life. 

His first care in undertaking the office of Protector, which he 
did willingly, was, to defend the Friars against all those who 
attacked them, to conciliate the Prelates in their favor, and to 
spread them into all parts for the salvation of souls ; his great 
authority silenced their enemies. As often as his affairs admitted 
of it, he assisted at their general chapters ; when he officiated 
pontifically. Francis acted as his Deacon, and preached. He 
conformed to the rule of the Institute as much as was in his 
power, and was, when with them, as one of themselves, and even 
endeavored to appear as the lowest among them. 

A contemporary author, who was an ocular witness, expresses 
himself thus : *'0 how often has he been seen humbly to divest 
himself of the marks of his high dignity ; put on the poor habit, 
and, with bare feet, join the religious in the regular exercises, in 
order to imitate their evangelical life ! "*j* A lively and enlightened 
faith, a solid and fervent piety, and a superior mind, convinced 
him that since the time of the abasement of the Son of God, 
humiliation is honorable, and adds to the splendor of the highest 
dignities ; a truth which is not understood by persons of little faith, 
by the proud, the indevout, and those of little mind. 

This great Cardinal respected Francis as much as he loved him ; 
looking upon him as a man sent down from heaven. His pre- 
sence was a source of pleasure to him, and he often admitted, as 
the above-quoted author states, that from the time he had made 
acquaintance with this holy man, as soon as he saw him and 
heard him speak, all that caused in him uneasiness of mind, or 
grief at heart, was dispelled ; his countenance became serene, and 
his soul was filled with fervor. 

Francis, on his side, had great veneration for the Cardinal, 
whom he insisted on his brethren considering as the Pastor of the 
Flock, and, with an attachment as tender as that of an infant for 
the mother's breast, he gave him in all things marks of the pro- 
foundest deference. One day, hearing that he was about to 
receive a visit from him, he ran away and hid himself in the 
thickest part of the wood. The Cardinal had him sought for, 
and went himself, in search of him, and, having found him, asked 
him as his friend to tell him why he avoided him. -^My.Lord 



* Cod. Vat. apud. Ray 11. ad ann. 121 7. 

t Tho. Celano, apud. Wad. ad ann. 1217, n. 8 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 147 

and my Father/' answered the humble Francis, '^as soon as I 
knew that your Grandeur* intended to honor me with your 
presence, me who am the poorest and the most despicable of men, 
I was covered with confusion, and I blushed at the thought of my 
baseness, finding myself wholly unworthy to receive so distinguished 
an honor, for I truly revere you as my Lord and my Father/' 
These feelings were partly owing to a vision he had had, which 
revealed to him that this Cardinal would be Pope ; he foretold it 
to him, which is recorded by St. Bonaventure ; and in the private 
letters which he wrote to him, he put on the heading : To my 
Reverend Father and Lord Ugolino, who is one day to be the 
Bishop of the whole world, and the Father of all nations.*}" 

The respectful gratitude of the Friars Minor required that we 
should insert all these anecdotes in memory of Cardinal Ugolino, 
who honored the Holy Patriarch of his Order, as well as that of 
St. Clare, with his affection, his protection, and his liberality, and 
who surpassed all his former favors ten years afterwards, when he 
was Pope under the name of Gregory IX. 

When Francis had obtained from the Pope so powerful a 
Protector, and had put his various affairs in order, he set out on 
his return to St. Mary of the Angels, but he spent the remainder 
of the year in the valley of Rieti,| where he performed many 
wonderful things, of which one of his companions has given a 
very ample account. § 

At Grecio, or Grecchia, a very dissolute town in which he first 
preached, no one frequented the Sacraments ; no one listened to 
the Word of God, and marriages within the prohibited degrees 
were of ordinary occurrence. What he said to them to urge them 
to repentance made such impressions on them, that they entreated 
him to make some stay among them. He willingly agreed to do 
go, in the hope of their conversion, which took place in a short 
time ; meanwhile he retired to a mountain, from whence he came 
to Grecio and other places to preach. 

On returning one day from Cotanello, a neighboring town, and 
not being able to find the way to the mountain, he asked a farmer 
to be his guide. This man excusing himself, saying that there 

*The title of Eminence was only given to cardinals in 1630. 

t S. Bernard had said a century before that the Pope was the Prince of 
Bishops ; the Bishop of the world; the Pastor of pastors ; that, by a singular 
prerogative of the ApostoHc wSee^he has a plenitude of power over all the 
churches ; and, to discover what is not confided to his care, one must leave the 
world. Epist. 132, 139, and 210. 

t Many ihink tlial it is the place called by Pliny, Umbilicus Italics, the 
description of wliich is in the seventh Book of the /Eneid. Est locus Italii-e 
in mecHo sub montibus altis. 

$ Chron. M. S, Angeli, Reatini de rebus gestis a Sancto Francisco, in 
Valle Reatina Ap. Wading, ad ann. 1210, n. 3. 



148 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

were wolves in that direction that committed great havoc, Francis 
promised him and pledged himself as his surety, that he should 
not be attacked by any wolf either in going or coming back ; he 
found that the saint was correct, for, in returning, two wolves which 
were in the way, played with him as dogs do, and followed him 
to his house without doing him any harm. The farmer reported 
this over all his neighborhood, and said that, assuredly, the man 
to whom he had served as guide, must be a great favorite with 
God, who gave him such absolute command over the wolves. 
Upon this they assembled in great numbers, and came to the 
Man of God, entreating him to deliver them from their calamities. 

' ' Two sorts of calamities bore hard upon them, " says St. Bona- 
venture, ''wolves and hail.'' The wolves were so ravenous in the 
environs of Grecio, that they devoured both cattle and men ; and 
the hail fell every year in such quantity and of such large size, 
that their crops of corn were destroyed, and their vineyards sorely 
damaged. Francis preached on this subject, and pointed out to 
them that scourges of this nature were the punishment of sin ; 
and he ended by saying : ' ' For the honor and for the glory of 
God, I pledge my word to you, that if you choose to give credit 
to what I say, and have pity on your own souls, by making a 
good confession, and showing worthy fruits of repentance, God 
will look upon you with a favorable eye ; will deliver you from 
your calamities, and render your country abundant in all sorts of 
good things. "^ But I also declare to you that if you are ungrate- 
ful for these benefits, if, like the dog, you return to the vomit, 
God will be still more irritated against you, and you will feel the 
effects thereof twofold by the fresh afflictions He will send you." 
They believed the preacher, and did penance ; from that moment 
the scourges ceased ; nothing more was heard of wolves, and there 
was no more hail ; and, what was most remarkable, continues St. 
Bonaventure, was, that when it hailed in the vicinity, the cloud, 
on nearing their lands, either stopped or went off in another 
direction, to fall elsewhere. This lasted as long as they remained 
faithful to God. 

Four authors, in different centuries, who have written the 
histor}' of the Valley of Rieti, assure us, that when dissoluteness 
recommenced in that countiy, the wolves returned and made 
great havoc, f Wading, who wrote in Italy in the last century, 
says, that the inhabitants of the valley admitted this to be the case. 
It is certain by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, that the sins 
of the people call down not unfrequently tbe scourges of the wrath 
of God, whirh may be averted by repentance, or be rendered 
useful to salvation. But how many afflicted sinners are there, of 

* Prov. xxvi, II. t Ad ann. 12 17, n. 13. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 149 

whom it may be said with the prophet, ^^ O Lord, Thou hast struck 
them, and they have not grieved ; Thou hast bruised them, and 
they have refused to receive correction ; they have made their 
faces harder than the rock, and they have refused to return."* 

A knight, whose name was John Velita, who was converted by 
the preaching of Francis, became his intimate friend, and used 
often to go to see him on the mountain in his hut, which was 
made of the branches of two large hornbeams intertwined. As he 
was an elderly man, and very corpulent, whom the steepness of 
the road greatly fatigued, he begged Francis to come nearer to 
the town, which would be agreeable to all, and he offered to build 
him a convent on any spot he should select. The servant of God 
assented to the proposal, and, smiling, promised the knight not to 
settle farther from the town than the distance to which a child 
could throw a lighted brand. Upon this they went together down 
the mountain, and when they reached the gates of Grecio, the 
knight sent the first child he met to fetch a lighted brand, and 
desired him to throw it as far as he could, not thinking he could 
throw it very far. But the child, with a strength surpassing that 
of men, threw the brand to a distance of more than a mile, and it 
fell on a hill belonging to the knight, and set fire to the wood 
which covered it, and lit at length on a very stony spot. This 
prodigy made it clear that God desired that a convent should be 
built there, and it was cut out of the rock. The oratory, the 
dormitory, and the refectory, which are still extant, on the ground- 
floor, are only thirty feet long by six broad ; precious remains, 
which show us the love of poverty which planned them. 

The Saint founded three other establishments in the valley of 
Rieti, at St. Mary of the Woods, at Monte Raniero, or Monte Co- 
lumba, and at Pui Buscone. These four houses, which are situated 
on eminences on the four sides of the valley, formed together a cross. 
In each of them, as in the town of Rieti, and all around the lake 
which surrounds it,"!* traces are shown of several miracles which 
were performed by the man of God. 

He returned to St. Mary of the Angels in the month of Janu- 
ary, 1 218, and he determined upon convoking a general chapter, 
which he notified by circular letters, to be holden at Whitsuntide 
of the year 12 19, in order that he might be made acquainted with 
the state of the missions intrusted to his disciples, and that he 
might send missionaries into parts where there had hitherto been 
none ; this was an inspiration of the Holy Ghost, who pointed 



^ Jcrem. v, 3. 
tit is a small lake which empties itself into the great Lake of Veliiio, 
where the river of the same name passes, which is now calKnl, 'Ml lau:o ih pi^ 
di luco. " 



I50 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



out to him the progress his Order had already made, and the great 
good which would accrue to the Church by its universal extension. 

While he was thus occupied by his important projects for the 
salvation of souls, God, in order to prevent any emotions of pride 
stealing into his heart, and to maintain therein a profound humil- 
ity, was pleased to permit that he should be attacked by a violent 
temptation ; it was an extraordinary depression of spirits, which 
lasted several days.* He made every effort to surmount it by his 
prayers and his tears ; and one day when he was praying with 
more than ordinaiy fervor, a celestial voice said to him, " Francis, 
if thou hadst the faith of a grain of mustard-seed, and thou wert 
to say to this mountain, go thirther from hence, it would go. " "f 
Not understanding the meaning of these words, he asked what 
mountain it was; and he was answered : ^'The mountain is the 
temptation.'' He immediately replied, weeping and humbling 
himself, "Lord, Thy will be done.'"' And from that moment the 
temptation ceased, and his mind became perfectly at ease. 

The year 12 18 was divided between the stay he made at St 
Mar}^ of the Angels, for the instruction of his brethren, and some 
excursions he made to jNIount Alvernia and to some other places, 
where new dwellings were made over to him. His route was 
always marked by the fruits of his preaching, and by the splendor 
of his miracles. Passing by Montaigu, above the Valley of 
Caprese, before a church of St. Paul, which was being repaired, 
and seeing that two of the masons could not succeed in lifting a 
stone, which was to be placed as a jamb for the door, his compassion 
and zeal induced him to lift it and place it as required, which he did 
alone, and with a strength which was not that of a mortal. The 
abbot of the monaster}' of St. Justin, in the diocese of Perugia, 
met him, and alighted from his horse to compliment him, and to 
speak to him on some matters of conscience. After a conversation 
replete with unction, the abbot, recommending himself humbly 
to his prayers, Francis replied : ''I will pray with all my heart ; " 



* Mark of Lisbon, bishop of Oporto, in Portugal, author of the Chronicles 
of the Order C)f the Friars Minor, says, in the first book, cap. 72, that it was 
a deep melancholy which caused him to be disgusted with everything, even 
prayer, and that it lasted two years. S. Francis de Sales, in his Introduction 
to a Devout Life, part 4, chap. 15, and other spiritual writers, only say that 
it was a painful affection of the mind, which lasted several days. It may be 
that Mark of Lisbon, being in Italy, where he compiled his work, may have 
seen some manuscript which put two years instead of two months. However, 
the Holy Spirit usually caused the Saint to feel in his soul a joy which was 
manifest in his face, and communicated itself to his companions, as we shaJl 
see further on. And, finally, it is not possible to make a deep melancholy of 
two years agree with his actions. It could not have taken place during his 
whole life. 

t Matt, xvii, 19. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. I5I 

and they parted. At a little distance from thence, the Saint said 
to his companion : ''Wait a little, brother, I will here perform 
my promise/' He knelt to pray ; and while he w^as so doing, the 
abbot, who was riding on, felt his mind inflamed with a suavity of 
devotion, such as he had never before experienced. He stopped, 
and the vivid impressions with which God favored him, threw him 
into an ecstasy. When he was come to himself again, he became 
aware that it was entirely owing to the prayers of Francis, and he 
became the friend of the Order, and he mentioned what had 
occurred to him to several persons as a thing which was quite 
miraculous. 

On his return from his last journey in 1218, which was much 
longer than any of the others had been, Francis found that a new 
building, large and commodious, had been erected in his absence, 
close to the Portiuncula convent. Displeased at seeing this 
infringement of the rules of holy poverty, he took some of his 
brethren with him, and went on the roof, to begin to break it 
down, which he certainly would have carried through, had not 
some of the people from Assisi, who were there, informed him 
that the building belonged to the town ; that it had been built 
by them for the foreign religious, w^ho daily arrived there, it being 
dishonorable to the town to see them compelled, in consequence 
of the want of room in the convent, to sleep outside, and even in 
the fields ; that the town had destined this building for their 
accommodation, and that they w^ould be received there in its 
name. On this he came down, and said to them : — "If that, 
then, is your house, I leave it, and shall not meddle with it ; we 
shall have nothing to do with it, neither myself nor my brethren ; 
take care of it yourselves. '' It w^as decided in consequence by a 
deliberation of the municipality, that the magistrates should 
provide for the repairs. 



I 



THE LIFE 



OF 



SAINT FBANCIS OF ASSISI. 



BOOK III. 



1 HE time of the general chapter drew near, of that chapter 
which became so celebrated by the number of religious which 
attended it, and by many other marvellous circumstances. Before 
its assembling, the holy Patriarch proposed to go to Perugia, to 
confer with the cardinal protector, who was legate there, on the 
affairs of the Order. Wading states, on good authority, that St. 
Dominic was there at the same time,* and that they had several 
deliberations together with the legate, who had a similar esteem 
for both. 

One day when they were in serious conversation on the affairs 
of the Church, the cardinal asked them whether they should con- 
sider it advisable for some of their members to be raised to eccle- 
siastical dignities; ''for,'' said he, "I am persuaded that they 
would have no less zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of 
souls, than those bishops of the early ages of the Church, who, 



* Father Echard, author of the Dissertations which are at the head of the 
work entitled, ''Scriptores Ordinis Procdicatorum," is by no means satisfied 
with Wading, with the continiiators of Bollandus, and with Fleury, who say 
that S. Dominic was at Perugia with S. P>ancis at Cardinal Ugolino's, in 
1219. He has no doubt that the learned Jesuits of Antwerp will look into 
this with great accuracy, when they come to speak of S. Dominic and S. 
Francis, and then admit having taken chimeras for solid and indisputable 
things. At any rate, the sons of S. Francis will not except against the 
learned Jesuits, whom a son of S. Dominic has chosen as the judges; and 
they will be sure of three things; 1st, that these learned and religious critics 
will admit that they were in error, and avow it sincerely, and will adduce 
proofs of it; 2(1, that they will weigh the reasons adduced by Father Fchard, 
and those of Wading; 3d, that as respects the two orders, their decision will 
be perfectly imj)artial. Scri|)t. Ord. Pra^licl. recens. torn. I. Wad. ad ann. 
1219, Dissert. 3. 



154 S. FR_\NXIS OF ASSIST, 

although in great povert}', animated by ardent charit}-, fed their 
flocks with salutan' instructions and the example of a good Hfe." 

After a contest of humility between the two patriarchs, as to 
who should speak first, Dominic, urged by Francis to take the 
lead, said to him : — "You excel me in humility, and I will 
excel you in obedience.'' He then gave the cardinal this answer : 
— ''My lord, my brethren may well consider themselves as hold- 
ing a ver}- elevated rank. What is there more honorable than 
teaching others from the evangelical pulpit ? What should well- 
thinking minds desire more than to be employed in defence of 
the faith, and to combat the enemies of the Church ? For this 
reason I strenuously desire that my brethren may remain as they 
are, and I will keep them so as long as I can." Francis made 
the following reply : — '']\Iy lord, my brethren have received the 
appellation of 2dinors, in order that they might never have the 
presumption to become great If it be your intention that they 
shall bear fruit in the Church, leave them in their vocation, and 
never permit them to be raised to prelatures. "' 

The cardinal was greatly edified by their answers, and highly 
commended the humilit}' of their opinions, but he did not there- 
fore change his views. He thought, on the contrar}', that such 
ministers would be Riost useful in the Church, considering the 
corruption of the times. 

The Church has since followed the opinion of this eminent 
dignitar}', having made many bishops and cardinals from the two 
orders, and several have been even elevated to the sovereign ponti- 
ficate, as we see in this day our holy father Benedict XI H being 
of the order of St. Dominic. "^ 

But the Friars Preachers and the Friars ]\Iinor, who have pre- 
served the spirit of their vocation, have never had any other 
feelings than those of their holy patriarchs on the subject of 
ecclesiastical dignities. They have refused them-}* as long as they 
could, and those who have accepted them, have been compelled 
to do so by superior authority, which they could not be dispensed 
from obeying. ;|; 

* Benedict XIII., who was elected Pope on the 29th of May, 1724, after 
the Conclave had sat two months ai.d nine days. 

t Pope Innocent XIII, of happy memory, has placed before the Christian 
community an example of this kind, m beatifying Andrew Conti, of the 
family of the Counts of Segni. which was that also of this Poniiff. religious 
of the Order of S. Francis, nephew of Pope Alexander IV., who refused to 
receive the Roman purple which his uncle sent him, and who liked better 
to practise, as a Friar Elinor, poverty, humility, and all other virtues, which 
God honored in his person by many splendid miracles. S. Anton, chron. 
part 3. tit. 24. cap. 9. 41. Wading, ann. tom. 2. ad an. 1298. " 

t It is well known that our holy Father Pope Benedict XIII only con- 
sented to his election after considerable resistance, and then not to be opposed 
to the will of God. which he was obliged to admit that it was. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 1 55 

St. Bonaventure expresses himself so strongly on this head, 
that we have thought it desirable to give his own words, not to 
weaken them.^ '' What must we say of those Friars Minor, who 
have been raised to the episcopate ? I answer, that if the Church 
compels them to take upon themselves the care of souls in this 
station, so that they cannot absolutely refuse to do so, they must 
not be considered as having left the Order, provided they aim at 
a continuance in it as much as in their power, as in the bosom of 
their mother. But if, on the contrary, they aspire to the episco- 
pate without being called thereto, and even without being com- 
pelled to accept it, merely to.be disembarrassed from the austerities 
of their Order and the inconveniences of a poor state of life, I 
believe they will have the same lot as he had who said : — ' I will 
ascend and sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of 
the North. '"t 

The holy doctor followed these principles ; he refused the 
archbishopric of York, in England, J one of the richest churches in 
Europe, of which Pope Clement XIV sent him the bulls. It 
was solely on receiving the positive order of Gregory X. , that he 
could be induced to be made Cardinal and Bishop of Albano. 
It was with regret and lamentation that he received the insignia 
of the Cardinalate in the midst of the most debasing acts of 
religious humility ; he made no alteration in his manner of life, 
well knowing that episcopal consecration cannot make void the 
obligation of vows, as is declared by the Church in Papal ordi- 
nances and general -councils, § which St. Thomas has learnedly 
explained in the following terms: — "Those religious who are 
raised to the episcopate, are obliged to observe all that their rule 
directs, which is not incompatible with the functions of their 
episcopal character. "|| Such is the doctrine of this worthy child 
of St. Dominic, which another of his children, our most Holy 
Father Benedict XIII. , put in practice when Bishop and Cardinal, 
and still continues to practise on the apostolic throne, to the 
edification of the whole Christian Church. 

Brother Leo, the companion and confessor of St. Francis, who 
was at Perugia, and who assisted at all the conferences, says, that 
they spoke much on the propagation of the faith and the salvation 



* Exposit. in regul. Fr. Min. cap. 2, pag. 313, col. 2, torn. 7, Ap. S. 
Bonav. t Isaias xiv, 13. 

\ Vit. S. Bonav. cap. 14. Sixt. 4, const. 76, in Biillar. Rom. torn. 2. S. 
Anton, chronic, part 3, tit. 24. cip. 8. WacUng, ad an. 1265 and 1274. 

§ Innoc. I. Epist. 2, ad Victrie, epist. Rothomag. Nicol. I. Kpist. 55. ad 
Egilon. Archiep. Senon. in Council, antiq. Gallia;, torn. 3, p. 274. concil 
general 8, can. 27, concil general 12. Lateran 4, can. 16. See P. Thomassin 
in the discij:)line of the Church, part 3, Hv. T. chap. 32, n. 19. 
II 2 2. ([ucst. 1S5, Art. 8. 



150 S. FPL\NCIS OF ASSISI. 

of souls; that, having made reciprocal inquiries into the peculiarities 
of their respective orders, Dominic proposed to Francis to unite 
them, and make but one order, in order that the difference of the 
Institute should not divide those whom the intimate friendship of 
their fathers had closely united. To this proposition Francis 
replied: — *']My dear brother, it has been God's will that our 
orders should be different, the one more austere than the other, 
in order to their being by this variety better adapted to human 
infirmity, and to give an opportunity to such as could not bear a 
life of ver}' great austerity to embrace one which was somewhat 
milder.'"' Leo adds, that they took steps for maintaining perma- 
nent agreement between the two orders ; and, after having mutually 
praised their congregations, they recommended to their companions 
who were present, reciprocal respect and friendship for each other ; 
that Dominic requested Francis to give him his girdle, which was 
a cord with large knots : and. having obtained it after many 
entreaties, he wore it during the remainder of his life under his 
habit, as a tie and perpetual symbol of the charit}^ which so 
intimately united them.'^ 

Francis having discussed with the Cardinal Protector all the 
affairs of his Order, left Perugia to return to St. Mar}^ of the Angels. 
As he discoursed on the road with his companion Leo, on the 
virtue of humilit}^ and entire abnegation of self, he said in a 
moment of fer\'or : 

" ]\Iy dear brother, I do not believe myself to be a Friar 
Minor, and, in truth, I am not one, unless I can bear humbly and 
with entire tranquillit}^ of mind, all that could happen to me 
under circumstances which I can figure to myself I suppose, 
then, that my brethren came to seek me, with great respect and 
confidence, to assist at the General Chapter which is about to be 
holden, and solicit me to preach at it If, after having exhorted 
them in such terms as God shall have inspired me, they were to 
rise up against me, and manifest openly that they hold me in 
aversion, saying: — 'We will no longer have you to govern us ; 
we are ashamed of having such a man as you at our head, who 
has neither learning nor eloquence, who is simple and ignorant, 
with ver)^ little prudence and experience ; therefore, in future, do 
not have the arrogance to call yourself our superior/' If they were 
to put other affronts upon me, and to drive me ignominiously 
from the assembly, I should not consider myself to be a true re- 
ligious, unless I were to receive all this as patiently and with 



* But besides Brother Leo, Bernard de Basse, secretary to S. Bona- 
venture, who had hved with Leo, relates the same anecdote, as does 
likewise Colvenerius, professor of Louvain, and many others. Wading, 
nd an. T2IQ. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISL 1 57 

equal serenity of countenance as I should receive those who would 
load me with praise and honor/' 

To this he added : ' ' Assuredly, places of honor are very 
dangerous to salvation, not only from the vainglory which is to be 
feared, but likewise from the government, which is very difficult ; 
whereas, in opprobrium, there is nothing but merit to be acquired. 
If I am removed from the headship, I shall be exempt from being 
accountable to God for a great number of souls. Prelature is a 
station of danger, and praise brings one to the very edge of the 
precipice. In an humble, lowly station, there is much to be 
gained. Why, then, do we look to and prefer what is dangerous 
to what has so much more spiritual advantage, since it is for this 
that time is given to us ? "' These are sentiments which should be 
well pondered by persons in every station of life, whether they 
aspire to employments, or fear the losing of them. The profound 
humility of St. Francis does not admit of a doubt of his having 
gone through the trial which he here supposes ; and even in 
putting it thus hypothetically, he strengthened in his mind the 
virtue requisite for supporting it in reality. These sorts of sup- 
positions, which might be stumbling-blocks to the weak, are very 
useful to those who aspire to perfect humility. 

The Friars Minor assembled for the General Chapter of their 
Order at the convent of St. Mary of the Angels, or Portiuncula, 
near Assisi, at the Feast of Pentecost, and their number exceeded 
five thousand. The circumstance is truly amazing, particularly 
when it is recollected that some remajied in their respective 
convents ; that the Order had only existed ten years since its insti- 
tution ; and that the novices had always been admitted by the 
founder himself, except since the Chapter of the year 1216, when 
he had given the provincial ministers power to receive them. It 
is nevertheless certain, that more than five thousand Friars Minor 
assisted at this celebrated Chapter : the fact is attested by four 
of St. Francis' companions, who were present at it ; by St. 
Bonaventure, who lived with them* and by many others ; there is 
no modern author who does not consider it as proved, f 

* Father Echard doubts there having been five thousand Friars Minor at 
this chapter, and he grounds this doubt on S. Bonaventure not having re- 
corded it ; from whence he conchides, either that this fact was unknown to the 
holy doctor, or was considered by him to be inaccurate. But he would have 
had no reason for this doubt if he had read his Legend, of which the 
following are the precise words : ^'Multiplicatis jam fratribus, coepit^eos. . . . 
in loco Sancto Marioe de Portiuncula ad generale Capitulum convocare. . . . 
ubi licet omnium necessaiiorum esset penuria, fratrum que multitudo ultra 
quinque millia conveniret aliquando ; divina tamen opitulante dementia et 
yictus sufficientia suberat, et salus comitabatur corporea et spiritualis 
jucunditas aflluebat." A mistake of this nature will, doubtless, attract the 
attention of the learned Jesuits of Antwerp, whose criticism tlie erudite 
Dominican calls for. Script. Ord. Pi'LX^dic. rccensili. tom. I, Dissrrt ^ 
t Raynald. Spond, B?ov. Floury, the Abbe de ("hoisi, Bnillol! 



158 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

What can be said on this subject, except that it pleased God 
to recall in some measure, by the rapid establishment of this 
Order, the wonderful spread of the Gospel by the preaching of the 
Apostles? St. Augustine says that the Apostles were as dark clouds 
from whence lightning and thunder emanated ; * that, by their 
poverty and their simplicity, they shone in the eyes of the universe ; 
that, by the powerful virtue and splendor of their admirable actions, 
they overthrew everything which was opposed to the empire of 
Jesus Christ, and, in a short time, christianized the world. May 
we not also say, that Francis and his companions, men poor and 
simple, were a representation of the Apostles ; that Jesus Christ 
rendered them powerful and eminent in words and works, to 
bring back sinners to His empire, and that by them, in an incon- 
ceivably short period of time, an immense number of Apostolic 
men was collected and formed who embraced the same institute, in 
order to exercise the same ministry ? What assists us in compre- 
hending that in ten years it had been possible to build a sufficient 
number of houses, to contain so many thousand men is, that they 
were poor and without any income. 

The religious of this Chapter were lodged in huts made of 
matting, erected all round the Portiuncula convent from which 
this Chapter has been called the Chapter of Mats. They were 
there separated from the world, but perfectly united among them- 
selves, all lovers of watching and fasting after the example of their 
Father ; zealous in prayer and in the recital of Psalms, in spiritual 
reading, and in readiness to execute all works of mercy, and 
having no other hope than that of the happiness of a future life. 

Cardinal Ugolino, as Protector of the Order, came to preside 
over the Chapter, and all the religious went in procession before 
him. He opened the Assembly on Whitsunday the 26th of 
May :f he officiated pontifically, and preached ; and he deemed 
it right to inspect all the ranks of this holy army of the Lord, in 
which he found everything in good order. These soldiers of Jesus 
Christ were not seen wandering about ; but all were collected in 
groups, a hundred in one spot, sixty in another, more or less, and 
conversing on holy subjects, on their own salvation, or on that of 
their neighbors, and on the means of reforming the morals of a 
corrupt world. The Cardinal, delighted with so interesting and 
unusual a scene, said to those who followed him, as Jacob had 
when he met the angels on his way : Truly, this is the Camp of 
God. J We might also apply to it what Balaam could not prevent 

'^ S. Angus, in Psal, 96, n. 7 and 8. 
+ The continuators of Bollandus remark, that Whitsunday fell this year on 
the 25th of May ; nevertheless, it appears that it was on the 26th. Act. SS. 
torn. 2, Mali. Vit. S. Angel, carmel. pag. 828. 

I Cienes. xxxii, 2. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 1 59 

himself from saying, when he saw the Israelites encamped : How 
beautiful are thy tabernacles, O Jacob, and thy tents, O Israel !* 

Francis, as a general in his camp, went through all the tents ; 
he encouraged his troops to fight valiantly the battles of the Lord, 
assuring them of receiving assistance from on high, animating 
some, and fulfilling in every place the duties of a vigilant chief 

He assembled all his brethren, and addressed them in an excel- 
lent discourse, of which the following embraces the subject: We 
have promised great things ; and we have been promised greater. 
Let us keep the first, and let us sigh after the others : Pleasure 
is of short duration ; the penalty is eternal. Sufferings are light , 
glory is infinite. Many are called ; but few are chosen. Each one 
will receive according to his deserts. 

On diis beautiful text he exhorted them, in the most forcible and 
moving terms, to the practice of virtue and to the duties of a 
religious life ; urging them, above all things, to implicit obedience 
to our Holy Mother the Church, to a contempt of the world, to 
purity of mind and body, to. a love of holy poverty and humility, 
to charity, to concord and mildness, to continued watchfulness, 
and to an ardent zeal for the salvation of souls. He recommended 
to them to pray for all the faithful, and particularly for the exal- 
tation of the Holy Roman Church, and for the benefactors of the 
Order. After which he positively forbade them to have any 
anxiety whatever for anything concerning the body, and he quoted 
to them these words of the Psalmist : Cast thy care upon the Lord 
and He shall sustain thee.f He had conformed strictly to the 
rule he laid down, for he had made no provision for the Chapter. 

St. Dominic, who, out of friendship for S. Francis, had come 
with six of his companions to this assembly^ and who heard this 
discoui-se, was fearful lest what he had forbidden was perhaps an 
exaggeration, and that it might seem to be tempting the Lord, if 
some steps were not taken for procuring food for so great a mul- 
titude. But he was of a very difi'erent way of thinking shortly after 
when he saw arrive from Assisi, Perugia, Spello, Foligno, Spoleto, 
and many more distant towns, ecclesiastics, laics, nobles, burgesses, 
and persons of every state of life, who brought with them not only 
what was necessary for the subsistence of such vast numbers, but 



* Num. xxiv, 5. t Psalm liv, 23. 

t Father Echard maintains strenuously that the chronology of tlie Life of 
S. Dominic, does not tally with his having assisted at the chapter of the 
Fiiars Minor held at St. Mary of the Angels in 12 19. It is one of the 
po nts to which he calls the attention of the Jesuits of Antwerp, who have said 
positively that the holy Patriarch was tJiere, and Fleuryhas followed them; 
until these learned critics sliall have decided* we relate the flict as we have 
found it, and of which Wading brings credible evidence. Script. Ord. Vvxdlc. 
tom. I, Dissert. 3. Act. SS. supra Hist. Kcclcs. ilc Flcury. Ij!). jS, n. 20. 
v^ndinj^r. nd aim. 1219. 



l6o S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

pressed fqnvard to serve the religious themselves with an emulation 
of humility and charity. 

So marked an interposition of Providence in behalf of these 
evangelical poor struck the Patriarch of the Friars Preachers with 
astonishment ; and it is believed that it suggested to him the 
intention which he carried into execution the year after, when he 
assembled the first general Chapter of his Order at Bologna,* in 
w^hich it was resolved that the Friars Preachers should adopt the 
system of entire poverty, and consider it as the fundamental rule 
of their Order, renouncing forever all property in land, or revenue 
arising thereft'om, even what they had at Toulouse, which the 
Pope had confirmed to them by his first Bull. In dying, he 
recommended to them this evangelical poverty as the foundation 
of their institute ; and lest this foundation should be undermined 
by the prudence of the flesh, he forbade in the strongest terms, on 
pain of the curse of the Almighty, and of his also,f the intro- 
duction into the Order of any temporal possessions. 

I\Iay what made so strong an impression on the mind of St 
Dominic teach the faithful never to be mistrustful of the care of 
Divine Providence 1 

However, we are not to look for, or expect miraculous assistance ; 
they are not in the ordinary course of God's dispensations ; but 
after doing all that depends on ourselves, provided there be no 
irregularity on our part, and that our desires are within the bounds 
of moderation, without any impatience as to the event, we may 
assure ourselves that, accordino^ to the words of the wise man, No • . 
one hath hoped in the Lord and hath been confounded.;}; || 

Several prelates, and other persons of qualit}', who had been 
invited by Cardinal Ugolino to the Chapter, as to a grand and 
admirable sight, had the curiosity to examine everything minutely. 
They saw the religious in their miserable huts, coarsely dressed, 
taking but a slender proportion of nourishment, sleeping on mats 
spread on the earth with a log of wood for a pillow. They noticed 
at the same time that they were quite calm, that joy and concord 
were universal amongst them, and that they were entirely 

* These are Fleury's own words, which are merely translations from the 1 1 
authors of the Order of S. Dominic. • » 

t S. Antoninus observes that the Holy See, which has the plenitude of 
power, has, for good reasons, dispensed with this point in the Order of S. 
Dominic ; and the Council of Trent has since given permission to all monas- 
teries and to all houses, whether of men or women, to possess property and 
funds even to the mendicant orders, and to those who, by their constitutions, 
were forbidden from having any. The only exception from this is the Ordei 
of S. Francis, who profess to keep the rule of their founder with the greatesl 
strictness. S. Anton, chron. part 3, chap. 4. v> 13. Counc. Trent, sess. 25, 
de regul. cap. 3. 

t Ecclu,-^, ii. II. 



II 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. l6l 

submissive to their saintly founder. Admiring all these things, they 
said to each other : ' ' This shows that the way to heaven is narrow, 
and that it is very difficult for the rich to enter into the kingdom 
of God. * We flatter ourselves that we shall eke out our salvation 
in the enjoyment of all the comforts of life, having our ease in all 
things, while these people, to save their souls, deprive themselves 
of everything, mortify their bodies, and are notwithstanding not 
without great apprehension. We should like to die as they will, 
but we do not choose to live as they live. Similar reflections 
converted a great number of pei-sons, and more than five hundred 
took the habit of the Friars Minor during the Chapter. 

The Holy Patriarch found that many of his religious submitted 
themselves to extraordinary mortifications, which either shortened 
their days or rendered them useless to the Order by the illnesses 
which were the consequence. He therefore publicly forbade them, 
by the virtue of holy obedience, to make use of any such, and he 
ordered all who had coats of mail, iron girdles, or other instruments 
of mortification, to leave them ofl* and deliver them up to him. 
This was done, and some most extraordinary modes of inflicting 
self-punishment were discovered. The number of coats of mail 
and iron girdles which were delivered up were more than five 
hundred ; they were put into a heap, and the Patriarch thought 
proper to show them to the Cardinal and his company for their 
edification. They were astonished on witnessing so great a love 
of such penitential austerities, in men of such pure and holy lives. 
In their presence he forbade his brethren all sorts of indiscreet 
mortifications, which are injurious to the body; representing to 
them that they either hasten death, or throw the body into such 
a state of languor and weakness, as makes it unfit for spiritual 
exercises, or an impediment to the practice of good works, to 
labor for the glory of God, and to giving good example to their 
neighbors. Oh, fortunate and happy times, when it was necessary 
to check such failings ! 

God made known to Francis, in a revelation he had during the 
sitting of the chapter, that the prince of darkness, alarmed at the 
fervor of the new Order, had collected thousands of demons, to 
concert together on the means of bringing it to ruin ; and that one 
of them, more astute than the rest, had put forth an opinion 
which it had been decided should be acted upon. It was, not to 
attack the Friars Minor openly, but to have recourse to artifice ; 
to induce them to receive into their society nobles, learned men, 
and youths. Nobles, in order by their means to introduce 
efTcminacy in which they had been brought up ; learned men, 
who, proud of their learning, should have a contempt for humility ; 



** Matt, vii, 14; lAike xviii, 24. 



l52 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



^ 



and youths, who, being weak and delicate, would greatly relax in 
the regular discipline. 

Religion teaches us that there are demons, and that they are 
subordinate one to the other ; that God, when it pleases Him, 
permits them to tempt mankind, and even torment them corpo- 
rally ; and St. Paul speaks of ' ' the Prince of the powers of this air. "* 
We know what Satan did to holy Job ; and what our Lord said to 
St. Peter : ''Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift 
you as wheat ; "f and what He noticed elsewhere: ''When an 
unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he taketh with him seven spirits 
more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. "J 
Thus we need have no difficulty in believing that the prince of 
darkness had collected such a number of demons against St. 
Francis and his institute. St. Gregory § says, that they attack with 
greater violence those in whom they find a greater disposition to 
holiness, and that the principal demons are employed in the attacks 
on the; bravest soldiers of Jesus Christ. What must be the wrath 
of these malignant spirits against the apostolical men, whose lives 
are wholly employed in effecting the salvation of souls ! 

Francis had already been made aware by the means of a young 
female who w-as possessed, as St. Bonaventure relates, || that the 
devils, irritated by the injury he did them, had assembled against 
him,- and then he merely said, as St. Paul did, I am the strongest. 
But he was alarmed when he learnt from God Himself the in- 
crease of their rage. He retired for two days to an oratory to pray 
for gr?xe to be able to escape from their snares, and that he might 
be protected by good angels. His prayer gave him fresh courage ; 
he returned to the chapter, and addressed his brethren with 
energy on the watchfulness with which it was incumbent on them 
to work out their salvation, without placing too much reliance 
on the holiness of their state of life, from which they must be 
apprehensive lest they should fall off by the machinations of their 
enemy. "You know," he said, " the examples we have; Satan 
fell from Heaven, and drew with him a number of the angels; 



* Ephes. ii, 2. t Matt, xii, 43 and 45. 

t Wading mentions a revelation made to S. Bridget, relative to the eflforts 
and artifices employed by the devils against the Order of S. Francis ; and the 
words of a heretic possessed by a devil, who was exorcised by S. Dominic at 
Carcassonne. Very wholesome instructions are to be derived therefrom ; nut, 
as to what was said to S. Dominic, Bzovius might have been more just to the 
Order of S. Francis. He has been equally unjust on other occasions in his 
Ecclesiastical Annals ; Wading has corrected him mildly and with caution in 
the Annals of the Friars Minor; and Dermicius Thadeus, in a book entitled, 
Nitela Franciscanae Religionis, printed at Lyons, in 1627, with approbation, by 
Claude Landry, in 4. 

^ Sanct. Gregor. Moral, lib. 29, cap. 22, n. 44, Edit. Bened. 

II Sanct. Bonav. in Hexam. Serm. 18. post med. I Cor. xii, 10. 



S. FRAN'CIS OF ASSISI. 1 63 

he caused Adam and Eve to be driven from Paradise ; he prayed 
to be allowed to sift the Apostles as wheat is sifted ; and he did so 
with such effect, that one of them betrayed his Master, another 
denied Him, and all fled when He was captured." 

The Saint then explained to them what God had made known 
to him of the designs of the devil ; and in order that the enemy's 
malignity might fall on himself, he warned them to pay more 
attention in the reception of novices to the sentiments of the mind 
than to the advantages of birth ; to be very careful that the learned 
whom they should admit, should be devoid of pride, and were fit 
to edify others by their humility, and to be careful that such as 
joined them in the flower of youth, should be informed of all 
which they would have to put in practice in future. 

For the holy man did not think it requisite, in consequence of 
Satan's malice, to prohibit noblemen from joining his Order, since 
their example has great influence, and the elevated sentiments 
which are found in that class, render them more fit to do great 
things for the service of God. He did not wish to drive away the 
learned, since learning is necessary for the exercise of the func- 
tions of religion, and since those men who join the knowledge of 
sound doctrine to an evangelical life, are most instructive teachers 
in the Church, for the dissipation of error and the establishment 
of virtue. He also desired that they should receive such young 
men as should present themselves in the tenderest age, ^'because 
it is good for man to bear the yoke from his youth : ''* to leave 
the world, before having any knowledge of it, except through the 
lights of the Church, and to ofler themselves as pure victims, 
rather than to bring to Him the remains of a heart stained by the 
passions; and, moreover, our Saviour said to His disciples, who 
turned away the children who came to Him : '^ Suffer them, and 
forbid them not to come to me.^'f We know that there are in 
the world censorious people who condemn the custom of permit- 
ting young persons to enter into a religious state : it would be 
easy to show, if it were not for fear of rendering this work too 
voluminous, that their arguments are based on a superficial 
foundation, and are contrary to the maxims of Christianity ; we 
therefore content ourselves with saying that at the Council of 
Trent,'J which was guided by the Spirit of truth in its discipline, 
as well as in its dogmas and morality, permission was given to 
persons of either sex, to make profession of a religious at the full 
age of sixteen ; that rule is authorized by the ordijiances § of all 

* Jerem. Tliren. iii, 27. t Matt, xix, 13 and 14. 

t Sess. 25, de regul. cap. 15. 

^ All that was done on this subject in France is broui^ht toti^ether in the 
4th tome of the Memoires du Clerg^ 1710, tit. I, rap. i. ' 



■Hill 



164 S. FRANXIS OF ASSIST. 

Christian princes, and it therefore seems very extraordinary' that 
any individuals * should be rash enough to oppose their private 
opinions to so respectable an authorit}'. 

Francis, who was desirous of encouraging the fer\'or of his 
disciples, apprised them of what they had to fear, and anticipated 
the smallest inclinations to pride in them, by salutan- humilia- 
tions. The Cardinal Protector having one day preached before 
all the religious of the chapter, and having concluded his sermon 
by bestowing on them considerable praise, the holy Patriarch 
asked his p<:Tmission to address the audience. He foretold to 
them, and represented in lively colors, all that was to happen to 
the Order ; the temptations to which they were to be exposed ; the 
tribulations they were to suffer : the changes that would be brought 
in, and iheir decline. He reproached them with their laxity, and 
with their want of fervor in cooperating with the peculiar graces 
they had received from God ; he spoke so energetically, that, in 
censuring their foolish obsequiousness, if such a fault they had, 
he covered them with confusion. The cardinal was somewhat 
mortified, and said : — ''Pray, why, brother, did you gainsay me, 
setting the imperfections of your brethren in opposition to the 
praises I had given them ?'' '' ^ly lord and my father,'' answered 
Francis, "I did so, in order to presence the substance of your 
praise. I was apprehensive that such praise being given by a 
person of your exalted rank, might inspire vanit}' into the minds 
of those in whom humilit}' has not as yet thrown out deep roots." 
This affords great matter for reflection for those virtuous persons 
who voluntarily receive praise, at least when it is artfully admin- 
istered ; and for indiscreet flatterers, who expose virtue to a 
dangerous trial. 

What occurred on the following day, showed that the holy man 
had received from God the perfect means of appreciating men's 
minds. Brother Elias, who was the provincial for Tuscany ; 

* The author of the Lois Ecclesiastiques, chap. 12, maxim 7th, page 555. 
gives the words of the Council of Trent, and the Ord. nance of Blois for such 
as make their profession at the full age of sixteen ; and in the maxim he says, 
**The Ordinance of Orleans did not permit males to make their profession 
till the age of twenty-five, and the females till the age of twenty. If this 
was still adhered to, fewer persons would be seen who repented of ha^^ng 
embraced a state of life which they had entered with maturer reflection.'' 
Was it right in the author to repeat appro%'ingly the Article of the Ordinance 
of Orleans, which that of Blois had corrected by anoiher, which a general 
Council, the Ordinance of our kings, and the decrees of our superior courts 
authorized, and which is a law in the Canonical and Ci\dl Jurisprudence? 
Ought he not to have known that if some religious persons repent of the 
choice they have made, this may occur as often from their neglecdng the 
duties of their vocation, as from their having wanted a vocation ? He ought 
to correct this sentence in his book, in which other faults have been pointed 
out to him. 



S. FRANCIS Ob ASSISI. 1 65 

brother John of Strachia, who was provincial for Bologna, and 
several others came to the Cardinal Protector and entreated him 
to tell Francis, as from himself, that he ought to listen to the 
advice of his brethren, among whom there were many learned 
men, fully capable of governing ; particularly as he himself was a 
simple and unread man, whose ill health did not permit him to 
bring their affairs into good order. They added, that respect 
ought to be paid to the ancient rules of St. Basil, of St. Augustine, 
and of St. Benedict, and that we should not differ so widely from 
them by a new rule and excessive severity, as if we wished to be 
better than our fathers. 

The cardinal took his time, and then proposed all these 
things to Francis, as maxims which he deemed good for the 
government of the Order. The saint being immediately made 
aware by the Spirit of God, that these things had been suggested 
to him, rose up from the place in which he had been seated with 
the cardinal, took him respectfully by the hand, and led him to 
the brethren who were assembled in chapter, and said : 

^'My brethren, my brethren, God has called me by the way of 
simplicity and humility, in order that I might follow the folly of 
the cross : it is for His glory and my confusion, and for the 
security of your consciences I am about to tell you what He said 
to me: — 'Francis,' He said, 'I desire that you maybe in the 
world a new little idiot, who shall preach by thy actions and by 
thy discourses the folly of the cross. Do thou and thine follow 
me only, and not any other manner of life.' Speak not to me 
therefore of any other rule, he added, for I shall not follow, nor 
prescribe any other than what God has in Flis mercy given me ; 
those who swerve from it, I fear, will feel the Divine vengeance, 
and will be covered with confusion, when at length they shall be 
obliged once more to enter into this path.'' 

Then addressing himself to the cardinal, he said : — " My lord, 
these wise people, whom your lordship praises so much, would 
wish by their worldly prudence to deceive both God and you ; but 
they deceive themselves, endeavoring to destroy what God has 
ordained for their salvation, through me, his unworthy servant. I 
attribute nothing to myself of what I do, or of what I say ; I rely 
not on my own lights in the government of the Order ; I arrange 
everything by long prayers with our Heavenly Father, who governs 
it sovereignly, and who has made His will known to us by so many 
manifest signs, in order to bring to perfection the work He has 
commenced by so miserable a man as I am, for the salvation of 
souls, and the edification of our holy mother the Church. Those 
who prefer the wisdom of the world to the will of the Lord, expose 
themselves manifestly to be lost. Having spoken thus, Francis 
retired. 



1 



i66 



5. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 



The cardinal, who admired the energy of his words, and the 
light which disclosed to him at once the most secret thoughts, 
said to the superiors who were abashed: — ''My dear brethren, 
you have seen how the Holy Ghost has himself spoken by the 
mouth of this apostolical man ; his words came forth as a two- 
edged sword, which has penetrated to the bottom of the heart* 
Take care that you do not grieve the Spirit of God ; be not un- 
grateful for the favors He has done you. He is truly in this -poor 
man, and manifests to you, through him, the marvels of His power ; 
in listening to him, it is Jesus Christ that you hear ; in despising 
him, it is Jesus Christ whom you despise. *j* Humble yourselves, 
therefore, and obey him, if it is your desire to please God, and 
not lose the fruit of your vocation ; for I know by exp)erience, 
that ever}'thing which either the devils or men are about to 
attempt against his Order, is revealed to him. Whatsoever may 
be said to him with good or bad intention, it is difficult to find him 
off his guard ; neither my advice, nor that of any other person, 
will turn him from his purpose." The provincials who had 
given rise to this scene were moved, and submitted themselves to 
the will of the Patriarch. 

Among the religious who had congregated at the chapter, there 
were many who came to seek a remedy for the ill-treatment they 
had received in many places out of Italy, which had its rise in 
two causes ; the first was, that they had no authenticated letters 
to show that their institute had been approved by the Church ; the 
second was, that the pastors would not allow them to preach. 
They begged therefore that the Pope might be solicited to give 
them written testimonials to certify that they had his approbation 
of their institution ; and, moreover, that they should obtain from 
the Holy Father a privilege, in virtue of which they might 
preach wherever they thought proper, even without leave from the 
bishops. 

The holy founder could not hear this second article without 
indignation. ''What! my brethren," said he, "are you. still 
devoid of understanding ; J and do you not know the will of 
God.? It is His pleasure that we should gain the good-will 
of our superiors by our respect for them, and by humility ; 
and then by word and good example, those who are under 
them. When the bishops see that you live holily, and that 
you do not encroach on their authority, they will themselves 
apply to you to work for the salvation of the souls which are 
committed to their care ; they themselves will collect their 
flocks to listen to you, and to imitate you. Let it be our sole 



' Hebr. iv, 12; Eph. iv, 30. t Luke x, 16; 



t Matt. XV, 16. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 1 67 

privilege* to have no privilege calculated to swell our pride ; to 
give ourselves a confidence which shall be to the prejudice of 
others, and be the cause of contentions. Let us ask nothing of 
the Holy See but what is calculated to aid us in serving God, in 
extending the faith, and in gaining souls under the good pleasure 
of the prelates, without causing any disturbance among the 
people. " 

Some represented that they had found many of the heads of 
the parochial clergy so harsh, that they had been unable to mollify 
them, either by entreaties, or by labor, by submissiveness or good 
example, so as to obtain leave to preach to their parishioners, or 
to receive from them any corporal assistance ; to which Francis 
replied . 

"My brethren, we are sent to the aid of priests, to make good 
that in which they may be deficient. Each one will receive his 
reward, f not according to the degree of his authority, but in 
proportion to his labors. Know, then, that what is most agreeable 
to God is, to work for the salvation of souls, and that we shall best 
succeed in this by living in concord with the priests than by living 
separately from them ; if they throw obstacles in the way, God, 
to whom all vengeance belongs, J will give them in His good 
what is their due. Be therefore submissive to ecclesiastical time 
superiors, in order to avert as much as may be in your power any 
jealousies. § If you are children of peace, you will soon ingratiate 



* When Cardinal Baronius says that S. Francis did not approve of privi- 
leges obtained in order to withdraw themselves from Episcopal authority, 
and that those enjoyed by his Order had been obtained by Brother Elias, a 
man who was guided by the prudence of ;he flesh, he could not mean this as 
applicable to the immediate dependence on the Holy See, in which the Order 
of Friars Minor is; for it was S. Francis himself who, in 1210, solicited 
from the Pope the approval of his rule, where this dependence is specially 
noticed; and it was only in 121 1 that Elias entered the Order. Father 
Thomassin, who quotes this passage from Baronius in the same sense, should 
have noticed the mistake. Baron, ad ann. 676, n, 7. Thomassin, Discipline 
de I'Eglise, part 4, lib. i, cap. 52, n. 13. It must further be remarked, that 
it was two bishops, those of Assisi and Sabina, who seconded Francis's 
application, and strenuously solicited Innocent III to approve his rule, 
which rendered his Order immediately dependent on the Holy See. The 
holy Patriarch then chose to have this sort of privilege, with all its conse- 
quences, without which his Order, as he intended it to be, could neither be 
established nor exist ; but he did not choose that any other should be applied 
for; and if his Order had any other subsequently, the Sovereign Pontiffs 
gave them by their ow n accord, and for reasons known to themselves. 

t I Cor. iii, 8, | Deuter. xxxii, 35. 

^ Father Thomassin, in his Discipline dc I'Eglise, points out the close 
alliance there is between the secular and regular clergy, and after having 
adduced many striking proofs of this, he concludes.: '' That these two states, 
having been so united originally, they could not in after times but preserve 
these mutual relations and communications so essential for their glorv and 



i6S 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 



yourselves with the clergy and the people, and this will be more 
acceptable to God than if you gained over the people, and thereby 
gave scandal to the clergy. Hide the faults of the priests, make 
good what they are deficient in, and be only in consequence the 
more humble.'"' 

The religious of St. Francis must not be surprised if they, even 
in these days, meet with opposition in the exercise of their holy 
ministries. It is an occurrence which the similarity of men may 
at all times bring about ; * and which St. Paul experienced more 
than any other in the course of his ministr}'. But let them be 
careful to put in practice the advice of their Father, in order that 
they may be able to say in truth with the apostle: — ^'We have 
injured no man. '" f And, finally, the advice which he gave them 
must induce us to notice his moderation and his discretion, in an 
age when the Church had reason to renew the laments of one of 
the prophets against the pastors of Israel. % 

He judged it proper, by the advice of the Cardinal Protector, 
to procure apostolic letters to make known the approbation his 
institute had received ; and he obtained them from the Pope, 
who was then at Viterbo. These were the first which were given 
to the Order of Friars ^Nlinor : their contents are as follows : 

Honorius, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, to the Arch- 
bishops, Bishops, Abbots, Deacons, Archdeacons, and other 
superior ecclesiastics — 

''As our dear son, brother Francis and his companions, have 
renounced the vanities of the w^orld, and embraced a state of life 
which the Roman Church has justly approved ; and, following the 
example of the apostles, are about to go into difterent parts to 
announce the word of God ; we beg and exhort you in our Lord, 
and we command you by these apostolical letters, to receive as 
catholic and faithful, the brothers of this Order, the bearers of these 
letters who may apply to you, to be favorable to them, and to 
treat them with kindness, for the honor of God, and out of con- 
sideration lor us. Given this 3d of the Ides of June, the third 
year of our pontificate. '' 

Many cardinals and other illustrious persons added their letters 
of recommendation to those of the Pope, particularly Cardinal j 



mutual preservation." To which is added, that these ties should be still j 
stronger between the ecclesiastics and the mendicant Orders, such as thef 
Friars Minor, since these latter, having no titles, no benefices, no revenues, 
are destined by their rules, by the Popes, and by the bishops, to exercise the 
apostolical ministries solely as auxiliaries ; and that, as the harvest is abun- 
dant, and as the numbers of workmen are sometimes small, the pastors should 
see. without envy, ministers of good will, who come to share in their labors. 
Discipline de I'Eglise. Part i, lib. i, cap. 47. Part 2, lib. i, cap. 36. Part 
3, lib. I, cap. 32 and 33, and lib. 4. cap. 2. Part 4, lib. i, cap. 50. 

* 2 Cor. X, xi. t 2 Cor. vii, 2. t Ezech. xxxi, I, et seq. 



S. IRAXC IS OF ASSISI. 1 69 

Ugolino, the protector of the Order, who testified by a document 
addressed to all prelates, which certified the intimate knowledge 
he had of the virtues of the Founder and of his religious, and the 
great fruit that was to be expected from them for the propagation 
of the faith, and the benefit of the whole Church. They made a 
great number of authenticated copies of these letters, in order to 
give to those whom Francis had resolved to send in all directions, 
even into the most distant lands. 

Three things were decreed at this general chapter. The first 
was, that on every Saturday a solemn mass should be celebrated 
in honor of the immaculate Blessed Virgin Mary. This glorious 
tide of Immaculate, which the general councils of the seventh 
and eighth centuries, and the ancient fathers of the Church, have 
given to Mary, has been used by the Council of Trent,* which 
has declared in its decree on tlie subject of original sin, ^'that it 
is not its intention to include therein the blessed and immaculate 
Virgin Mary, Mother of God." The use which the Friars Minor 
made of it in 12 19, shows clea.rly that they adopted, as did their 
sainted Patriarch, the common opinion of the Greek church, 
which was already spread in various parts of the Latin Church, in 
honor of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin, because they 
thought it wholly pure and exempt from the stain of original sin. 
Their successors have always, with admirable zeal, maintained this 
opinion, which God in so far blessed, that they have had the 
advantage and consolation of seeing the Institution of the Feast 
of the Conception in the whole Church, by an Apostolic Constitu- 
tion,! which the Council of Trent has renewed ; and many 
Sovereign Pontiffs J have declared to all the faithful that the object 
of the festival is to honor the Blessed Virgin under this opinion, 
that she was conceived without the stain of Original Sin, forbidding 
under severe penalties the writing or speaking to the contrary. 

It is proper to notice here, that at the head of the Friars Minor, 
who supported the proposition of the Immaculate Conception, 

* Sess. 5, de Peccato Origin. 

t Declarat hsec ipsa sancta Sy nodus, non esse suae intentionis comprehen- 
dere in hoc decreto, ubi de peccato ori^i^inali agitur, beatam et immaculatani 
Virginem Mariam, Dei Genitricem ; sed observandas esse constituiiones 
felicis recordationis Sixti Pap?e IV. suh poenis in eis constitutionibus con- 
tentis, quas innovat. Concil. Trident. Sess. 5, de Peccato Oi iginali. 

t Alexander VII has collected in his Constitution, Solicitudo omnium 
Ecclesiarum of the 3d of December, 1661, all that had been done bv his 
predecessors on the subject of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed 
Virgin. We see clearly therein, what the Roman Church thinks upon it. 
'I here are on this suV)ject several excellci^t Latin treatises ; the most complete 
one in French is that of M. Prevet, the CurtTof Gonnecour in Normandy, 
printed at l^omc in 1709. It is a refutation of the prescriptions published in 
1676, by M. de Launoi, who is a furious opponent of the Mystery of the 
Conception, notwithstanding the prohibition of the Holy See. 



1 7C S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

was the celebrated John Duns Scotus, so respected in the Church 
for his penetrating genius, for the soHdity of his doctrine, and for 
his singular piety. He silenced his opponents, and his success 
was so manifest that it was considered that he had the special 
protection of the Blessed Virgin,* and his reasonings w^ere so 
convincing that the University of Paris admitted them, and 
declared in favor of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, 
which it has maintained ever since. In the fifteenth centuiy, the 
faculty of Theology passed a solemn decree on this point, in 
which it d-cclared that in consonance with the opinions of its 
predecessors, and in order to oppose the enemies of the Blessed 
Virgin, it bound itself by oath to maintain the proposition that 
the ^Mother of God was preser\'ed from Original Sin ; framing a 
law, not to receive any doctor who should not take this oath ; 
which is continued to the present day. 

In this is the pious triumph of the Sons of St. Francis, who, 
in gratitude for so singular a privilege, honor the Blessed Virgin 
as the Patroness and Protectress of their Order, under the title of 
her Immaculate Conception, and by celebrating the festival thereof 
with ever}* possible solemnity. 

The second statute directed, that express mention should be 
made of the names of St. Peter and St. Paul, in the prayer, 
''Protege nos Domine, etc./'' and in another which begins with 
these words — ''Exaudi nos Deus,'" etc., in memor}^ of what had 
been revealed to St Francis, that these apostles interceded power- 
fully with God for his institute. This was practised by the whole 
Church when Innocent IV revised and reformed the Roman 
Breviar}', through Aymon, an Englishman, "j* who was the fifth 
general of the Order of Friars Minor. 

In the third statute it was said that povert}^ should be apparent 
in ever}-thing, in the convents which they should build ; that the 
churches should be small and low, and that the walls of the rest 
of the buildings should be of wood or mud. Some difficulties 
were started to this ; many represented that in their provinces 
wood was dearer than stone, and that walls of masonr}-, if they 
were not too high, would better denote poverty, because they would 
be solid and not compel frequent repair. The holy Founder 
would not argue this matter with them ; for it is remarked that 

* Wading relates, on the testimony of many authors, and on the tradition 
of the city of Paris, that Scot, about to discourse in support of the Immacu- 
late Conception of the Blessed Virgm. prayed first before one of her pictures, 
and that the picture bowed its head to confirm his reasoning. From the 
same tradition we learn that the picture in question is the one which is seen 
with its head bowed down at the door of the lower chapel of the palace at 
Paris. Wading, ad ann. 1209 

+ Wading, ad ann. 1244, u. 2. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSIST. '1 7 1 

not to give rise to any dispute, and not to give scandal to the 
weak, he often condescended to the opinions of others in similar 
matters. Nevertheless he recommended to them all, not to 
receive either churches or houses which were not in conformity 
to holy poverty which was their rule. 

It was not possible always to follow out his intentions. The 
prelates and princes who were greatly attached to his Order had 
beautiful convents built, which his religious could not avoid 
receiving ; and St. Bonaventure even says that a numerous 
community which has different exercises to perform, requires large 
houses,* although care should be taken that holy poverty should 
be apparent throughout, and that superfluity should not pre- 
ponderate over what is reasonably necessary. 

The Chapter being ended, Francis, following the example of 
the apostles, divided the world among his brethren, in order to 
bring it all in subjection to the Empire of Jesus Christ. After 
long prayer according to his custom, he made known to them 
that he took for himself and twelve of his companions Syria, and 
Egypt. He named Benedict of Arezzo for Greece ; Giles and 
Electe for Africa, with others whom he associated to them. As 
the greater part of Spain groaned under the domination of the 
Saracens, he added to those whom he had before sent there, John 
Parent, and more than a hundred new missionaries, in order that 
they might spread themselves into all parts. Into Provence, into 
France, and into the Low Countries he sent the same as before. 
For Gascony, in particular, he selected Christopher, a religious 
who had the simplicity of a dove, and who died at Cahors, and 
whose miracles have rendered his memory celebrated. 

Angelo of Pisa was appointed Provincial in England, whither 
he was to take many more apostolic workmen. The Patent 
which was furnished him was very short ; the following is the 
tenor of it, such as it is found at Mount Alvernia : "I, Brother 
Francis of Assisi, Minister General, command you. Brother 
Angelo of Pisa, to go to England, there to take upon yourself 
the office of Provincial : Adieu ! Brother Francis, of Assisi. " 

The first mission to Germany had not been successful. Those 
who had been sent thither by the preceding Chapter, not knowing 
the language, and answering badly the questions put to them, 
were suspected from their poor and unusual habit to belong to 
those heretics who were prosecuted in Italy, in consequence of 
which they were cruelly ill-treated and driven away. The recital 
which they gave on their return made Germany so unpopular 
among the biethren that they said that none ought to go there 
but such as aspired to martyrdom, and that many prayed to 



S. Bonav. Deterinin. in regul. S. Fiau. quxst. 6. 



172 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

heaven to be preserved from the ferocity of the Germans. Francis 
did not think proper to send any more there till such time as he 
should have received some novices from thence who might go 
there with others ; but he sent some into Hungary. 

He selected for the distant missions the most talented of his 
brethren, and the most perfect in virtue, and he gave them ex- 
cellent instructions as to the exercise of their missions. He like- 
wise added to the authentic copies of the Papal Bull and of the 
recommendations of the Cardinals, three other letters which he 
addressed to the ecclesiastics, to the magistrates, and to the Supe- 
riors of the Order. They are so edifying that we deem it useful 
to insert them here. This is the first : — 

''To my Reverend lords in Jesus Christ, all the Ecclesiastics who 
are over the whole world, and who live in the Catholic faith. Brother 
Francis, their lowly servant, sends greeting, and kisses their feet." 

''Being indebted to all the world, and my infirmities not per- 
mitting me to discharge in your regard what I owe, I beg you to 
receive with great charity what I lay before you in these few words. 
Let us reflect, all of us who are in the condition of clerg}^men, on 
the great sin which some commit, through ignorance, against the 
ver}' holy Body and the very holy Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and against the very holy words with which they are consecrated ; 
for we know that His Body and His Blood can only be present after 
the pronunciation of the words which consecrate them. We have 
and we see nothing of this most High Lord, which is real and 
sensible in this world but His Body and His Blood, and His words 
which have served to redeem us, and to make us pass from death 
to life, as it is by His word that we were created. 

" Nevertheless, let all those who celebrate these sacred mysteries, 
and in particular those who do so without due discernment con- 
sider what is in many places the meanness of the chalices in which 
they consecrate, and of the corporals and other linen which are used 
in the holy Sacrifice ; with what irreverence the Body of our Lord 
Jesus Christ is placed^ deserted, carried, and received by some and 
administered by others. Sometimes, even His name and His 
written word are cast under foot and trodden on ; so true it is that 
the sensual man perceiveth not the things which are of the spirit 
of God."^ 

" Does religion not awaken us to the outrages offered to this 
Lord, full of goodness, who places Himself in our hands, whom 
we touch, and whom we receive daily in the holy communion ? 
Are we ignorant that we shall one day fall into His hands ? Let 
us, therefore, correct these defects, together with all others, never 
again to fall into them, 

* I Cor. ii, 14. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 1 73 

** Wherever we find the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ incon- 
veniently deposited, let it be removed and enclosed with great 
reverence and care. So, also, if His name or words are found 
scattered about, let them be collected and placed in some decent 
place. We know that we ought to attend to all these things, 
according to the order that the Lord has given us on these points, 
and according to the decrees issued by our holy mother the 
Church. Whosoever shall fail in this, let him know that on the 
day of judgment he will be made responsible for it to our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

^* Those who shall cause this writing to be copied in order to 
spread it quickly, and to cause it to be practically attended to, let 
them be assured that God will bless them. May our Lord Jesus 
Christ fill you, and fortify you by His grace, all you ecclesiastics 
who are my Lords.'' 

We must perceive from this that St. Francis, with all his 
evangelical simplicity, had considerable acquired knowledge. He 
speaks as a correct theologian of the consecration which can only 
be performed by the words of Jesus Christ* He exacts, as did 
Origen and St. Augustine, that equal respect shall be paid to His 
words, as to His Body.*j" The authority which He points out to 
prove how much the name of God is to be respected, as is His word 
and all that serves for His worship, show that he was well versed 
in the Holy Scriptures,;}; and that he was instructed in the Ordi- 
nances of the Canon Law. § We may also conjecture with 
Wading, that, being very zealous in promoting cleanliness and 
decency in everything about the altar, and for the suitable 
administration of the Eucharist, and being, moreover, highly 
esteemed by the Pope, it was he who induced Honorius III to 
make the rule on this head, which is found in the decretals. || 



*This is what theologians generally teach, grounded on the sacred 
Scriptures, on tradition, on the liturgies, on the authority of the holy Fathers, 
Greek and. Latin, on the doctrine of the Councils, and on the strongest 
reasoning which the Greeks at the Council of Florence acknowledge that 
they could not but admit. It would be useless to endeavor to renew and 
support the peculiar opinion that the form of the Eucharistic consecration 
does not consist alone in the S(jle words of Jesus Christ, and that the prayer 
or invocation is an essential part thereof. The proofs of this opinion are too 
weak and the consequences may be dangerous. Council cf Florence, page 
1 163 and 1 164, tom. 13, Collect. Concil See Refutation de la Dissertation, 
etc.. by the R. P. Bougeant, of the Society of Jesus, at d'Houry's, 1727. 

tOrig, Horn. 13 in Exod. S. August, vel Coesar, Arel. Sermon 300 n, 2 in 
Append, tom. 5 Oper. S. Aug. Vad. annot. in Epist. 15 S. Francisci. 

t Levit. xiv, 12 ; xxi, 6; xx, i et seq. Deuter. vi, 6 et seq. Isai. lii, II. 
Ezech. XX ii, 26 et alibi, i Cor. xi, 27 and 28. 

^ De Consecr, Dist. I cap. Nemo. cap. Altaris. cap. Vestiment. cap. Vasa, 
cap. Ut caiix, et alibi. 

il Dccrct. Greg. Noni, cap. sane dc cclobr. Miss. 



174- S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

The mere title of his letter deserves attention. He addresses it 
to the ecclesiastics who live in the Catholic faith ; and as he 
expresses it in his will, according to the form of the Roman 
Church ; from which it may be concluded that he did not desire 
to write to such as were heretics, or in schism, following in that 
the doctrine of St. Paul,* who warns his disciple, Titus, to hold 
no communication with them, and that of St John who forbids 
receiving them into our houses, or even to greet them.f The light 
and the purit}' of his faith were sufficient to inspire him with these 
sentiments, but the acquaintance he had of the apostolical con- 
stitutions give us room to think that he was guided also by the 
two celebrated canons, | which our holy Father Benedict XII, 
when Archbishop of Benevento quoted in his second letter to the 
Cardinal de Bissy, against those who did not pay due obedience to 
the Holy Roman Church, and prevented others to submit to it§ 

The letter which Francis addressed to the magistrates was 
couched in these terms : — 

To all the powers, governors, consuls, judges, magistrates, 
who are in the whole earth, and to all others who may receive 
these letters : Brother Francis, your lowly and despicable sen^ant 
in our Lord, sends greeting, and wishes you peace. 

"Consider attentively that the day of death is at hand; for 
which reason I entreat you with all the respect in my power, not 
to forget God, in the midst of the embarrassments caused by the 
affairs of the world, nor to violate His Commandments ; for all 
those who shall withdraw from the Lord, are accursed, and He 
will forget them. || On the day of their death, all that they 
appeared to have will be taken from them ; the more they shall 
have been learned and powerful in this world, the more will they 
be tormented in hell. I advise you, therefore, my lords, above 
all things, to enter on a sincere course of penance,^ to receive 
humbly and with love, the most sacred Body, and the most holy 
Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, in memor}' of His Passion ; to 
refer to God the honor He has done you, in confiding to you the 
guidance of His people, and to cause ever}* night some signal to 
be made to give notice to all, to honor the Lord Almighty, and 
to return Him thanks. If you fail in this, take notice that you 
will be called to account for it at the day of judgment. Those 



* Tit. iii, 10. t2 John i, lo. 

t Canon. Si Romanorum. Dist. xix, I. Canon. Xulli fas est Dist. xix, 5. 

^ Recueil de Lettres dans Finstruction pastorale de M. le Cardinal de 
Bissy. 1722, page 132. 

ij Psalm cxviii, 21; Osee ii, 6; Matt, xxv, 19; Sap. vi, 7. 

% Wading quotes the manuscript from which he has taken these words 
which are not found in others, but which must have been in the original. 
Note 5, in Epist. 15, S. Francisci. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 1 75 

who shall keep this writing at their homes, and act up to what it 
contains, will receive God's blessing/' 

There are many things in this letter worthy of notice, and 
which are not less salutary for the instruction of the faithful, than 
honorable to St. Francis. 

1. The man of God has no condescension for the false delicacy 
of worldlings who cannot bear to hear death spoken of; he begins 
by telling them that death is at hand, .in order to bring them 
more efficaciously to repentance. So it is that preachers should 
announce, without any human respect, the salutary truths which 
displease their hearers ; thus they should speak of purity where 
licentiousness is common ; of restitution, where fraud and usuiy 
are found ; of charity, in opposition to the harshness of the rich ; 
of submission to the Church, where there is the spirit of resistance 
to its decisions, and so of the rest, 

2. He exhorts to frequent communion those persons who are 
engaged in worldly affairs, because in the midst of the difficulties 
and embarrassments which are inseparable from them, they may 
live in such manner as to be in a state to participate frequently 
in the divine mysteries, which is in conformity to the intention 
of Jesus Christ and the spirit of the Church. It is upon this 
principle that the children of St. Francis have labored and greatly 
contributed to reestablish among the faithful the frequent use of 
communion. 

Wading thinks that the Saint ^ in exhorting to the frequentation 
of communion, names the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ 
separately, because he had in view communion under the two 
species, f which in his time was still given in some churches, and 
even in the time of St. Thomas of Aquin. But it may be said, 
that it was from a pure and tender devotion for the precious Blood, 
the effusion of which has redeemed us, and that it is an article of 
faith, that we receive it with the Body when we communicate under 
the sole species of bread. 

3. It is to the zeal of St. Francis that we are indebted in some 
measure for the pious custom of ringing a bell at night to collect 
the faithful in the churches for the purpose of prayer ; since his 
days it has been practised in Italy. St. Charles Borromeo,J in 
the fourth council of Milan, considers it as an ancient custom. 



* Aniiot. 6, in Epist. S. Francisci. 
t The communion under one sole species of bread for the laity was llie 
practice of the Church from the earliest ages on many occasions, and was 
generally adopted with similar wisdom by the Council of Constance, as 
Bossuet, the learned bishop of Mcaux, demonstrates, with the same precision 
and solidity as is found in his other works against the Trotestants. Traitc 
de la Communion sous les deux especes, 1682. 

t 3, Part, qua^st. 80, art. 12. 



IJb S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

^Nlany other countries of Europe have followed it, and we see with 
edification that it is obsen'ed with tolerable regularity in France, 
both in the towns and in the countr)\ Those who cannot attend 
this public prayer ought, in the opinion of St. Charles, to collect 
their families in the evening to pray together ; our fathers used to 
do so, and why should their. children fail in so doing? 

4. The advice which the Saint gives to the magistrates, to refer 
the honor they have received to God, and to take care to cause 
Him to be honored, comprises all the extent of that maxim of 
Christianity, which lays down that religion is the principal object 
of government and policy ; that* temporal authorit}' which ema- 
nates from God should have nothing more at heart than to cause 
Him to be ser\-ed, to protect the Church, to support her decisions, 
to preserve her discipline, and to put a stop, by the severit}' of 
laws, to all novelties which are contrar}' to the purit}' of faith and 
to everything which tends to the corruption of morals. 

The holy Patriarch wrote as follows to the superiors of his Order : 

'' To all the Wardens of the Friars ]Minor,"j* who shall see these 
letters, Brother Francis, the lowest of the ser\-ants of God, greets 
them, and wishes them peace in our Lord. 

"Know that there are high and sublime things before God, 
which man considers sometimes as mean and despicable ; J and 
that there are others, on the contrar\^, which men highly esteem, 
and which are ver}' contemptible in the eyes of God. I entreat 
you. as forcibly as I am able, before the Lord our God, to deliver 
to the bishops and other ecclesiastics the letters which treat of the 
most holy Body and of the most holy Blood of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and to bear well in mind what we have recommended to 
you relative to this myster}\ Be careful, also, to have the other 
letters copied, and to have them distributed as soon as possible to 
the governors, consuls, and magistrates, in which they are warned 
to take care that the praises of God be publicly celebrated. I 
greet you in our Lord."§ 

He explains in the first place in this letter. j| two principles 
which were taught by Jesus Christ and by St. Paul, as to the 
different way in which God and man judge of things, and without 
making any particular application of what he had adverted to, he 
immediately goes on to say : "I entreat you to deliver my letters 

"^ Cone. Mediol. 4, part I, chap. 24. de Orat. 

t Three excellent works have been written on this subject, in which this 
truth has been clearly proved. The first is Traite' dogmatique et historique 
des Edit. &c., by Father Thomassin, priest of the Oratory, printed at the 
royal press, in 1705. Tr.iite de la police, by M. de la Mare, in 1705. Poli- 
tique tiree de TEcriture Sainte, a posthumous work of Bossuet, bishop of 
Meaux, printed in 1709. 

I That is to say, provincial ministers, as will be seen by what follows. 

^ I Cor. i. 2$ { L.ukc xvi, 15. || Wading, note 2, iii Epist. 14, S Francisci. 



I 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 1 77 

to the ecclesiastics and magistrates. '' It was as much as to say 
to those with equal discernment and humility: ''Although my 
letters are written in a very simple style, and in that view of them 
they may appear to you not calculated to make much impression 
on those to whom they are addressed, and to procure for you 
their protection ; nevertheless, do not fail to deliver them, for 
God may use them to touch their hearts more efficaciously than 
more eloquent discourses." And, in effect, they did touch the 
hearts of those who read them, who entreated the Friars Minor 
to accept houses which they offered them without waiting to be 
asked for them. 

As soon as the several missions had been fixed upon, and 
authenticated copies of all the letters had been delivered to each 
of the parties, the missionaries prepared to set out. Before we 
give an account of St. Francis' voyage to the Levant, we think it 
desirable to give an abridgment of what his children did in various 
parts of the world, because the principal glory is due to himi, and 
these proceedings naturally belong to the history of his life. 

Benedict of Arezzo embarked with his companions for Greece, 
where their preaching, backed by the holiness of their lives, and 
confirmed by miracles, produced abundance of fruit for the 
salvation of souls, and procured so many houses for the Order 
that in a very short time it was formed into an entire province, 
and was called Romania. 

Giles and Electe, who anxiously aspired to martyrdom, and 
who were only lay-brothers, had appeared to St. Francis to be 
more fit to be sent to the Saracens than even those of the clergy, 
and they hastened to go into Africa with several others. What 
chiefly animated the zeal of brother Giles, as the author of his 
Life remarks, was his having heard that the Saracens treated with 
great cruelty those Christians who spoke ill of the law of Mahomet. * 
When he reached Tunis with a party of missionaries, he generously 
preached the faith in public, and this continued for some time. 
A person who was looked up to among the Saracens for his great 
wisdom, having come forth from his retreat, told the people that 
they ought to put to the sword all those infidels who spoke 
against the law of their prophet. Giles and his companions were 
delighted at the prospect of an early martyrdom ; but the 
Christians with whom they had their domicile, fearing lest they 
might be included in the massacre, took away these preachers and 
compelled them to go on board a vessel in the harbor, and did 
not permit them again to land. As they did not cease 
addressing the Mahometans who crowded to the sea-shore, with a 
view to induce them to embrace the faith of Jesus Christ, — their 

Act, SS. 23 .\]>ril. vit. heal A'l'^ul. ca\>. 2. m. S. 



IJO S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

desire to sacrifice their lives for His glon^ being so ardent, — the 
Christian residents hastened to have them removed to Europe. 
Thus seeing that even their fellow-behevers were opposed to their 
views, they returned to Italy. 

Electe was more fortunate ; during some years he performed 
the functions of an apostle in another town in Africa, where he 
received the crown of martyrdom. A body of Saracens rushed 
upon him while he was preaching, upon which he fell on his 
knees, grasped the Rule with both his hands, asked pardon for 
his faults from God and from his companions, and then presented 
his neck to the infidels who took away his life. This did not 
happen till after the death of St. Francis. He had entered the 
Order when ver}- }oung, and had lived in it with great austerity, 
always wearing a coat of mail on his bare body, so that he 
prepared himself for the mart\Tdom of blood by the martyrdom of 
penance, as was recommended to the Christians in time of 
persecution. "^ 

Those who went into Spain with John Parent proceeded with 
so much speed that ten of them arrived at Saragossa by the feast 
of the Assumption ; a very short time after their departure, 
Bernard de Quintavalle, who was sent into this kingdom after the 
Chapter of 1216 had established two convents, the one at Toledo, 
the other at Carrion de los Condes, a town in the kingdom of 
Leon. S^me of his companions had been admitted at Lerida, 
and at Balaguer, in Catalonia, under very extraordinary^ circum- 
stances, which are omitted not to be too prolix. Zachary and 
Gautier, who had been sent into Portugal, had had much to suffer 
in the beginning ; but Queen Urraqua, the wife of Alphonso II, 
who then reigned, was a most pious princess, and, having caused 
their institute to be examined by xtry learned men, and having 
had full assurance of the holiness of their lives, she obtained 
leave from the king for their being received into his states, and 
permission for their building convents. A house was given them, 
with a chapel attached to it, of St. Anthony, near Coimbra, 
where the court then was, and subsequently one on a larger scale 
at Lisbon. Princess Sancia, the daughter of . Sancho I, and 
sister of Alphonso II, highly praised by historians for her piety 
and chastity, protected Zachaiy, and gave him a third house, called 
of St Catharine, at some distance from the town of Alenquer, 
which was her own : but in consequence of the distance and the 
insalubrity of the air, she some years after converted her own 
palace into a convent, which she gave to the Friars Minor. 
Gaulier, one of Bernard's companions, who had made many great 

* Tertul. ad Mart. cap. 3, et de cult, femin. cap. 13, S. Cyprian de Laps, 
cap. 3, et seq. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. IJQ 

conversions by his virtues and his miracles, near Guimaraens, had 
built a convent not very far from that town. 

While they were in that of St. Catharine, a singular thing 
occurred, which we have not thought right to omit here on 
account of the instruction it contains. One of the ladies, in wait- 
ing on the princess whose name was Maria Garcia, often came 
to have some pious conversation with one of the holy religious, 
who was very averse to receiving her, because he feared the 
company of females. One day when he was at prayer, she came 
to the church, and expressed a wish to see him, but he refused to 
go to her. The historian says that in order to obtain what she 
wished for, she did what w^omen generally do under such circum- 
stances, she became more importunate, and cried bitterly, and 
protested that it would give her great pain if she might not speak 
to the holy man. He therefore came, to get rid of her impor- 
tunities ; but he brought some straw in one hand, and some fire 
in the other ; he set the straw on fire in her presence, and then 
said to her: "Although, madam, all your conversations are 
pious, I refuse to hold them with you in private, because what 
you see has happened to the straw, is what religious persons have 
to fear may occur to them if they have private and faiiiiliar inter- 
course with women ; and at least they lose the fruits of their holy 
communications with God in prayer." The lady blushed, retired, 
and troubled him no more. St. Jerome, who so strongly recom- 
mended to ecclesiastics and religious to avoid conversauons with 
the female sex would certainly have approved of this action.* 

What we have just related was the fruit of Bernard de Quinta- 
valle's mission, and that of his companions, in Spain and Portugal, 
from the year 1261. 

John Parent arrived at Saragossa in the month of August, 1219, 
with nine of his brethren who were followed by many others soon 
after ; he addressed himself to the Bishop and to the magistrates 
who assembled to hear him. He explained to them who Francis 
of Assisi was, his vocation, his mission, his mode of life, his 
Institute, the approbation given to his Rule by Pope Innocent 
III and Honorius III, and the testimonials given to him by 
several Cardinals. He remarked to them that the new Order had 
been exceedingly multiplied in a very few years, and that they had 
seen more than five thousand religions at the general ChajHcr 
which had been lately assembled in the neighb(M-hood oi' Assisi, 
which was considered to be miraculous; that tluir Father hiul 
sent a great number of his children into all parts of the world to 
combat vice and encourage virtue, which circumstance should be 
considered as a bountiful effect of Divine Providence towards His* 



S. Hicroii. ICpist. ad Nc^x)!. 34, alias 2, cl ad Kuslir ()5 a!;:is 4. 



iSo 



S. FRA>'C1S OF ASSISI. 



Church, in such calamitous times. He concluded by saying : 
"If our Institute is agreeable to you, we earnestly entreat you 
to give us some small place in which we may recite the Divine 
Office, and fulfil the other ministries which our Founder has 
recommended to us. Have no anxiety as to our subsistence, for 
we solicit no part of your goods ; we content ourselves with very 
little ; we are poorly clad ; work and questing furnish us with all 
' that we require. '' 

All the assembly admired the spirit of humility which prevailed 
through this discourse, and the reading of the Papal Bull, with 
the testimonials of the Cardinals, were proofs that nothing had 
been set forth but what was true. But when they had read the 
letters which Francis had addressed to the Bishops and Magis- 
trates, they conceived such a liking to the Order, that they took 
immediate measures for giving to John Parent and his companions 
a dwelling of which they took possession on the 28th of August. 

The Order of St. Francis, as well as that of St. Dominic, began 
from that time to spread through all Spain.* On all sides 
preachers of the two orders were found, and new convents were 
erected, as Luke, Bishop of Tuy, a contemporar}^ author, men- 
tions m his Chronicle when he speaks of the marvels of the reign 
of St. Ferdinand, king of Castile and Leon. It would clearly 
appear that both the one and the other were in the city of Leon 
about that time, since the same author, in his excellent work 
against the Albigenses, says that they exerted themselves with 
great zeal and energy against the heretics, who, to seduce the 
faithful, published pretended miracles which they asserted to have 
been performed by the bones of one Arnoldf a man of their sect 
w^ho had been dead sixteen years, and accused the ecclesiastics 
and religious who exposed their impostures of heresy. Such is 
the mode adopted by certain sectarians ; they endeavored to 
establish their false doctrine by fictitious miracles ; "l while they 



* Luc. Tud. chron. pag. 123. Hisp. iilustr. torn, 4. Id. de altera vita, 
etc., lib. 3, cap. 9 and 14. Biblioth. Patr. torn. 25, Edit. Liigd, 1577. 

t There is another Arnold, a native of Brescia, who was a disciple of 

belard, who was the chief of the Arnoldists ; against whom S. Bernard 
wrote to Pope Innocent II, and to bishops, and who was hanged and burnt 
nt -v« me in the year 11 . There was also an Arnold of VMleneuve, a cele- 
brated physician, a thorough fanatic, whose errors were condemned by the 
rnquisiiion and by the I'aculty of Theology at Paris, in the year 1300, etc. 
S. Bernard Epist. 1S9, 193 and 196. Marian. Hist. Kispan. lib. 14, cap. 9. 
Hist. Univer. Paris, torn. 4, pag. 120 and 121. 

I God, who is truth itself, and the sole Author of true miracles, can never 
perform any to authorize error. But He sometimes performs some among 
the heretics and by their hands, to confirm Catholic truths. As He did one 
in flavor of baptism in the church of Paul, a Novatian bishop, as related by 
the historiai Socrates, lib. 7, cap. 17. See on this hear! the Pastoral Instruc- 
tion of the bishop of Soissons. p. 14. and seq. anvl the Abbe dc I'imrnely, 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



i8i 



insolently refused credence to those which the Catholic Church 
admitted as certain ; and all have sufficient audacity to treat as 
heretics the orthodox who prove them to be heretics themselves. 

The mission to France was equally successful with that of 
Spain.* Pacifico and his companions who began it in 1216, 
were exposed to hunger, cold, and all other kinds of inconven- 
iences, which men are exposed to suffer when out of their own 
country, unknown, and destitute of everything, and moreover 
living an unusual and extraordinary sort of life. They went to 
that office of the night which is called matins in those churches 
in which it is said at midnight, as is still the custom at Notre 
Dame, in Paris. If there was no service in the places where they 
were, they then prayed by themselves at that hour, and they passed 
the whole night at the foot of the altar ; after which, if no one 
offered them a meal, they went questing from door to door. The 
remainder of the day was spent in the hospitals, making the beds 
of the lepers and other sick, dressing their wounds, and rendering 
them such other services of humility and charity as they had 
learned from the example and instruction of their Father Francis. 
So saintly a life attracted the attention of all, gained their esteem, 
caused many to embrace the Institution, and procured for them 
many establishments. 

The most considerable was that of Paris, which was situated 
some years after in the very place where the great convent of the 
Observantines is now. The abbot and the community of St. 
Germain-des-Pres gave this locality to the Friars Minor, to remain 
there as their guests, f from which we see that the children of St. 
Benedict, who favored those of St. Francis in France, entered 
into the spirit of the Rule which prohibited their possessing any- 
thing as property. The charity of the religious of this abbey 
went still further ; they bought with their own money from the 
canons of St. Merry, a piece of ground attached to the enclosure 
of the house in order to accommodate their 2:uests. The cession 



Prselect. Theol. de Incarnation, in which they quote several passages from 
the Fathers, and the following one from S. Thomas. A malis qui falsam 
doctrinam enuntiant, nunquam hunt vera miracula ad confirmationem suie 
doctrinae ; quamvis quandoque fieri possunt ad commendationem nominis 
Christi quern invocant et virtute Sacramentorum quae exhibent. 2, 2, qua^st. 
178, art. 2, ad 3. 

"* Wading, ad ann. 1216. n. 9, et ad ann. 1219, n. 41. Hist. Eccles. Pari- 
sien. lib, 15, cap. 3, n. 2. 

t Hist, of the city of Paris, tom. i, page 284. Hist, of the Abbey of S. 
Germain-des-Pre's, page 119, art. 49. Ut ibi maneant tanquam hospites. 
The author of the History of the City of Pans printed in 1725, tom. i, liv. 
6, p. 235, makes an observation contrary to the Decretal of Pope Nicholas 
in., Exiit qui seminat, in which all are excommunicated who alter the 
sense. 



1 02 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

was confirmed by the famous Bishop of Auvergne, William of 
Paris, in 1230. 

Wading says* that in 1234 f the king St. Louis purchased this 
property from the Benedictines, and gave it, free from all ground- 
rent to the Friars Minor, and that he caused some considerable 
building to be erected upon it, and particularly a large and 
beautifully decorated church, which was dedicated by the title of 
St. Mar}' Magdalen. We know by histoiy and by incontestable 
documents, that this pious king, and Queen Blanche, his mother, 
had the greatest esteem for the religious of the Order of it. 
Francis, and loaded them with favors. In 1240, the abbot and 
community of St. Germain-des-Pres, in compliance with a Brief 
of Pope Gregor)^ IX, agreed to sell two pieces of land to enlarge 
the enclosure of the Friars Minor, which were purchased by certain 
pious individuals at a valuation which was placed upon them by 
Adam, Bishop of Senlis. King Philip-le-Bel added another piece 
of land in 1298 ; J and in the year 1561, the ^lagistrates of the 
H6tel-de-Ville added to these, in consideration of the good 
services of these religious against the Huguenots, and for the 
defence of the faith. 

The splendid church, § the precious memorial of the piety of 
St. Louis, II and of his esteem for the Order of St. Francis, was 
by accident entirely reduced to ashes, on the 19th November, 
1580, to the great regret of the Catholics, while the Huguenots 
who were in the habit of defiling the altars, and setting the sanct- 
uaries on fire, irritated to the highest pitch at the success of the 
Friars INIinor against their heresy, in their sermon, and in their 

* He says, moreover, that the act of acquisition, which is dated in the 
month of April 1234, and sealed with the seal of S. Lewis, is in the Abbey 
of S. Germam-des-Pres. Father du Bois, priest of the oratory, in his History 
of the Church of Paris, liv. 15, ch. 3, n. 2, says, that it was another house 
in the same locality which was ceded to the religious of S. Francis, by the 
religious of the Abbey, 'and that S. Louis in exchange remitted to the 
Abbey a quit rent of a hundred sous of Paris,. which they had to pay the 
king for a right of fishing, which he had granted to them. De Breuil relates 
the same thing in the second book of the Antiquities of Paris, which is quoted 
by the Abbe Dubois; and it is again found in the Hist, of Paris, tome i. p. 
285; Nevertheless, nothing of all this is noticed in the History of the Abbey 
of S. Germain-des-Pr^s, printed in 1 724, wherein we find noticed things 
relative to the convent of the Observance, which might as well have been 
omitted. 

t Ad ann. 1234, n. 16. 

X Wading remarks that some citizens of Paris had likewise purchased some 
pieces of land to add to those which Philip le Bel had added to the Order. 
^ Wading, ad ann. 1234. n. 21. 

1| Tt was three hundred and twenty feet long, by ninety broad. It was 
magnificently ornamented, aiicl there were some splendid mausoleums of 
princes and princesses, and other' persons of the highest rank. De Breuil, 
Antiquites dc Paris, 1234, n. 23. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 183 

controversial works, rejoiced at the conflagration and exulted over 
it, as the Idumeans at the taking of Jerusalem, * who would have 
wished that its very foundations should be rooted out. 

This misfortune had scarcely happened, than King Henry III, 
the princes, magistrates, and the municipality, deliberated upon 
rebuilding the church, and contributed to that effect, f They 
began to work at it the following year, by the zeal and assiduity 
of the illustrious Christopher de Thou, first President of the Parlia- 
ment, whose science, equity, piety, blameless life, and great talents 
had secured to him the esteem of his Sovereigns, the love of the 
people, and the respect of the whole world ; and whose memory 
lias been transmitted to posterity in the writings of the most learned 
men in Europe whom he loved and protected. 

The Order of St. Francis chose, in i6od, for their temporal 
Father and protector in the whole kingdom, John x\ugustus de 
Thou, J President "au mortier,"and son of the above, so celebrated 
for his integrity, his wisdom and learning, and who joined to 
the functions of his office, and to the political affairs which 
were confided to him by Henry HI and Henry IV an arduous 
labor, the fruits of which were the magnificent history of his own 
times, a work quite on a par with anything written by the ancients. 
This excellent magistrate, whose piety and family propensity at- 
tached him greatly to the Pilars Minor, caused the sacred edifice 
which his father had begun to be continued, and brought to 
perfection. 

Angelo of Pisa, one of the missioners sent by St. Francis, was 
the first warden of the Parisian convent. This convent soon be- 
came a college, where young men, from all parts of the world 
came to study, and, subsequently, to take out degrees in the 
university. Several great men § have, in the last five hundred 
years, rendered this college illustrious, and its renown is still kept 
up by doctors whose inviolable attachment to the Holy See and 
to the Episcopate, at a time when the Church has been greatly 
agitated, must render them dear to all who are zealous for the 
faith. No one will find fault with our having spoken at some 
length of the establishment which was made in the capital of 
France, while recording the acts of the first missions sent into 
that country by the holy Founder of the Order of the Friars Minor, 
nor that we have noticed the gratitude due to their benefactors, 
and done justice to their learned and orthodox doctors ; on this 

* Psalm cxxxv, i, 9 and 10. f Wading, ad ann. 1234, n. 22. 

t Mcmoire hist. Diction, n. hist. 

^ Alexander de Hal^s (d'lials), John de la Rochclle, vS. Bonavcnture, 
Richaid de MiddJeton. in Latin, Media Villa, William Warren, John Scot, 
Nicolas de Lyra, Francis Mayronis. I'eter Aure'ule, and numbers of others, 
in the j)reco(li j^r centuries, and in the piemen t centiirv. 



I §4 S. FRANXIi: OF ASSISI. 

last head, De Breuil,* in the antiquities of Paris, f expresses him- 
self energetically, and very honorably as to the great convent of 
the Observantines. 

Pacifico, whom St. Francis had appointed provincial of the 
French missions, sent some of the religious into different parts 
of the kingdom, where they were well received. He went with 
some companions into Hainault, and other provinces of the Lov/ 
Couniries, where, by the liberality and under the protection of 
the Countess of Flanders, Joanna of Constantinople, he caused 
many houses to be built, 'fhose of Sens, in Artois, of St. Tron, 
in the province of Liege, of Valenciennes, Arras, Ghent, Bruges, 
and Oudenarde, were among his first. We may read in the history 
of the modern heresies what the Friars jMinor have done and 
suffered in the Low Countries for the support of the faith. 

Thomas de Chantpre,J a Canon Regular of St. Austin, and 
subsequently a religious of the Order of St. Dominic, states, as 
an eye-witness, a very marvellous thing which deserves to be 
recorded in the life of St. Francis, since it occurred during his 
lifetime, relative to his Order. At Thorouth, a town in Flanders, a 
child of five years of age, w^hose name was Achaz, of a good family, 
having seen, in 1219, ^^^ habit of the Friars Minor, § begged his 
parents to give him a similar one. His entreaties and tears 
induced them to gratify him. He was therefore habited as a 
Friar Minor, with a coarse cord and bare feet, not choosing to 
have any money, not even to touch it, and he practised as much 
as was in his power the exercises of the religious. Among his 
companions he was seen to act the preacher, cautioning them 
against evil, exciting them to virtue by the fear of the pains of 
hell, and by the hopes of the glories of heaven ; teaching them 
to say the Lord's Prayer, and the Angelic Salutation, and to honor 
God by genuflections. He reproved such as did anything wrong 
in his presence, even his ow^n father, if he heard him swear, or 
saw him in a state of inebriety. ''My father," he would say, with 
tears in his eyes, ''does not our cure tell us that those who do 
such things will not possess the kmgdom of God ? "|| Being one 
day at church with his mother, w^ho was dressed in a hand- 
some gown of a flame color, he pointed out to her a crucifix, as a 
censure on her vanity, and warned her to be careful that the 
color she wore did not cause her to fall into the flames of hell, 



* Since ihe work of De Breuil enlarged by Malingre is the groundwork of 
the History of Paris, printed in the year 1724, he should not have omitted 
in the five volumes what he had thought himself obliged to say in a single 
one in favor of a celebrated house. 

t2d book, page 240, of Malingre's edition of 1640. 

tCantiprat lib. 2, de Apibus cap. 28, Meyerus ad ann. 1220, Molan, ad 
II, Julii. v) Wading, ad ann. 1220, n. 66. 1| Gal. v, 21. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



185 



which warning had so great an effect that his mother never after 
wore anything but the plainest dress. Such a precocious mind, 
with so much matured wisdom and piety, was universally admired, 
and every one took pleasure in seeing and listening to this 
amiable child. 

God took him from this world before he had attained his 
seventh year. In his last illness, he confessed, and solicited most 
earnestly to be allowed to receive the holy communion. The 
cure not venturing to comply with his request, on account of his 
tender age, although his reason was so mature and his holiness so 
manifest, he raised his hands to heaven, and said, in moving 
accents : — ''My Lord Jesus Christ, Thou knowest that all that I 
wish for in this world is to receive Thee. I begged for Thee, and 
have done what I could ; I hope with entire confidence that Thou 
wilt not deprive me of the happiness of possessing Thee." He 
then consoled and exhorted his parents and others who surrounded 
him, after which he gave up his pure soul to God, praising Him, 
and ejaculating prayers to Him. 

The ocular witness adds two circumstances which are very 
remarkable ; the first is, that the religious habit which this holy 
child wore disappeared, and could never afterwards be found. 
The second, that the Friars Minor who, as well as himself, went 
to pray at his grave, could not go through the De profundis which 
they had commenced, notwithstanding all the efforts that they 
made to do so ; by which they understood, that so pure a soul 
stood in no need of prayer ; and, no doubt, they only endeavored 
to offer up some under the impression that a mind so early in 
other respects matured, might have been capable of contracting 
some stain. 

While the mission to France and the Low Countries made 
great progress under the direction of Pacificus, Christopher and 
his companion labored successfully in Gascony, which they began 
by the establishment of the convent of Mirepoix, which the lords 
of the ancient and illustrious house of Levi gave them with great 
marks of esteem. The religious whom the holy Patriarch had 
sent into Hungary, had at that time no success. They were so 
ill-treated, and so often stripped of their miserable clodiing, that, 
seeing no prospect of becoming useful, they returned into Italy. 
But they were indemnified for this in the year 1235, by Bel us IV, 
King of Hungary, who settled the Friars Minor in his country, 
and employed them in his important affairs. Those who were 
destined for England, not having arrived there till the year 1220, 
because they stopped on their way at Paris, we shall only speak 
of them in that year. 

Francis, having despatched his disciples to the several missic^ns 
all<>ltcd to thcni, as has been said, preiniird lo go liimscir to ihe 



l86 S. FRA^-CIS OF ASSISI. 

Levant, with a zeal equal to that with which he had inspired his 
brethren, when Cardinal Ugolino, the protector of the Order, 
entered into discussion with him on the subject of the government 
of the establishment of St. Damian's, in which Clare presided, 
and of the other monasteries of females which had been com- 
menced on that model, which were becoming numerous, as 
besides those in Italy there was already one at Burgos, in Spain. 

The holy Patriarch replied in these terms to the cardinal : — ''I 
neither established, nor procured the establishment of any other 
monastery of females except the one in which I placed Clare to 
keep enclosure ; and I have not taken upon myself the care of 
any other, either to attend to its regular discipline, or for its 
sul3sistence, w^hich I and my companions wall provide for by 
questing, as the state of poverty requires. Nothing has displeased 
me more than the eagerness some of my brethren have had to 
establish in other places houses for religious females, and to 
govern them ; I am also much dissatisfied that they should have 
given them the name of Mmors. I entreat you, therefore, my 
lord, to remove my brethren, as much as possible, from the care 
of, and familiar intercourse with, religious females, if you desire 
to preserve their good repute, and to see them increase in virtue ; 
and to take measures to have these called either Poor Ladies, or 
Poor Recluses, until such time as a more appropriate name shall 
be hit upon." 

Yielding to those reasons, and several others which Francis 
adduced, the cardinal, who was a man of great prudence, under- 
took to arrange this affair with the Pope, recommending him only 
most earnestly to take care of Clare and her companions. Francis 
did not fail in this : he bound himself to do so both verbally and 
by the following letter, which Clare takes notice of in her will. 

"To my dear sister Clare, and to the other sisters of St 
Damian, Francis greets them in Je^us Christ : — 

"Since, by divine inspiration, you have become daughters and 
servants of the ^'Jost High, the Sovereign King, and Celestial 
Father, and have chosen the Holy Spirit for your spouse, in order 
to live up to the perfection of the gospel : I will take upon myself 
and promise you to have alwavs care of you, either personally or 
through my brethren, with as much solicitude and vigilance as for 
themselves. I greet you in our Lord/" 

llie attention which the holy Patriarch paid to the monastery of 
St. Damian, led his religious to think that they might assist the 
other monasteries which followed the same rule, without reflecting, 
that Clare and her companions, who first had embraced the high 
perfection ot holy poverty, of which there were no precedents in 
pievious ages, were deserving of peculiar distinction, and that 
the guidance (.:>f a single mona^teiy could have no ill consequences. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 1 8/ 

They were, moreover, urged to it by the advice of the bishops, and 
by the entreaties addressed to them, and were not adverse to it, 
from motives of charity towards virgins consecrated to Jesus Christ 
in a very austere state of hfe. But the Saint who foresaw the em- 
barrassment which this would cause to his Order, and other 
inconveniences which might arise from it, dissuaded his brethren 
as much as he could from these dangerous services, and often 
said, energetically : — "1 much fear that when God took wives 
from us, the devil gave us sisters/' This short sentence comprises 
a profound meaning, which may serve for the instruction of all 
those who, in the performance of the sacred ministry, are under 
the necessity of having communications with persons of the other 
sex. 

Cardinal Ugolino, by the advice and authority of the Pope, 
leaving to Francis the guidance of the monastery of St. Damian 
of Assisi, took upon himself the direction of all the others who 
had adopted that rule, and nominated as visitor-general under his 
orders, a prudent religious of the order of Citeaux, called Ambrose. 
He gave them the rule of St. Benedict, with constitutions which 
Wading gives at length. We do not transcribe them here, because, 
in the year 1224, St. Francis gave them another rule, which will 
be spoken of lower down, and which is the only one which ought 
to be called the rule of St. Clare or of the second Order. 

Ambrose, having shortly after died, the same commission was 
given by the Pope, at the solicitation of the Cardinal Protector, to 
brother Philip the Long, one of Francis's companions, with 
power to nominate religious of his Order, to regulate the mon- 
asteries in conformity with that of St. Damian. Philip had 
contrived to procure this appointment for himself without having 
consulted the saint, and it was from a zealous motive for the 
perfection of the religious females, who did not, in those times, 
lind many men capable of directing them in the kind of life which 
they had taken upon themselves. He thought that men who had 
undertaken a similar mode of life would be better calculated to 
instruct and govern them than such as only know the life 
theoretically. It must be admitted that this is usually true ; but 
there are found worthy ecclesiastics of whom it may be said, as of 
St. Francis of Sales, that, without being in the religious state, they 
have its spirit, to say nothing of the grace of the ministry, which 
flows peculiarly on all directors who join to purity of faith, purity 
of morals, the exercise of prayer, the study of the Scriptures, and 
perfect disinterestedness, having no predilection for any one of 
the religious whom they direct. 

However good Philip's intention may have been, Francis 
disapproved of his zeal, and said to him :—" Brother Philip, you 
liave done wrong. U]) to this ti nu\ ihc lisiula has onW been in 



100 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

the flesh, and there were hopes of its being cured ; but now that 
it is in the bone, it is incurable/' 

He expressed his sentiments on this subject in a ver}' energetic 
manner, by the penance he imposed on another of his companions, 
Stephen. As they were walking together on the banks of a river, 
this religious told him that he had been to one of these monas- 
teries of females by order of the visitor, but that he admitted 
having done so contrar}^ to his intention and begged his pardon. 
The Father reprehended him severely for it, and ordered him, in 
expiation of his faults, to plunge into the water with his habits on : 
it was in the month of December. Stephen having instantly 
obeyed, '' Extinguish," said Francis, ''in this water those sparks 
of a dangerous but pleasing and insinuating fire ; wash in it, and 
cleanse thyself in it from those secret stains which you have per- 
haps contracted without perceiving it. *' After, he continued his 
route which was still two miles before it was to end, going first, 
without turning to look at his companion who was dripping wet 
When he reached the convent, he relaxed the rigor of his pen- 
ance, speaking to him in soothing and charitable terms, and 
assisting him in dr}-ing his clothes. This action will only surprise 
those who know not to what lengths the saints carried the delicacy 
of their sentiments on the subject of the purit}' of the heart, and 
how easy it is to sully it. 

However, what St. Francis said to Philip, when he lold him that 
he had rendered the wound incurable by imposing the guidance 
of the female monasteries on the Order, became prophetic. For 
the services they -subsequently exacted from the Order, which 
they pretended were their due in consequence of the care which 
St. Francis had taken of the monaster}' of St. Damian, became 
so burdensome, that a decree was passed at the general Chapter 
held at Pisa, in 1263. at which St. Bonaventure presided, to give 
them entirely up. Some powerful interest used at the Roman 
Court prevented this decree from being acted upon, and the holy 
general who saw the inconveniences which St. Francis had 
foreseen and wished to have obviated, could not remedy them. 

All the precaution he took was to have it authentically made 
known and to have it declared by the Pope that whatever the 
Friars Minor did for the good of the religious of St. Clare, was done 
out of pure charity, and nowise from duty ; and in order that length 
of time might not give' a claim of prescription, the nuns were 
obliged to sign a document, the form of which was sent to them. 
Thus we must not imagine that the Order has any great predilec- 
tion for their government ; it will be at any time glad to shake it 
off if the Pope will but consent to its doing so. While this care 
is committed to the zeal of the Order, it will be necessary, on the 
one hand, for the nuns to behave themselves respectfully to those 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 1 89 

who exercise this charity in their regard ; and, on the other, the 
rehgious must bear in mind that they have the guidance of a sex 
in which even in its devotions the characteristics of our first 
mother are to be feared. 

The holy Patriarch being now about to set out in order to 
preach the Gospel to the Mahometans of the Levant, resolved to 
send to those who were in the west, some of his brethren. He 
chose six for Morocco : Vidal, a very prudent and pious religious, 
whom he nominated Superior ; Berard de Carbio, from the 
vicinity of Narni, who was well versed in the Arabian language ; 
Peter, of St. Geminien, and Otho, who were in priests'" orders ; 
and Ajut, and Accurse, who were lay-brethren."^ Having sent for 
them into the presence of all the others, he spoke to them as 
follows : — 

'' My dear children, it is God who has commanded me to send 
you amongst the Saracens, to make known His faith, and refute 
the law of Mahomet. I shall go in a different direction to work 
for the conversion of the same infidels, and thus I shall send 
preachers over the whole earth. Prepare yourselves, therefore, to 
fulfil the will of the Lord. To render yourselves worthy of it, 
take great care to preserve peace and concord among yourselves, 
as the ever-subsisting ties of charity. Avoid envy which was the 
first cause of the loss of mankind. t Be patient in tribulations, 
and humble in success ; which is the means of coming off 
victorious in all encounters. Imitate our Lord Jesus Christ in 
his poverty, chastity, and obedience ; He was born poor. He 
lived poor, and it was in the bosom of poverty that He died. 
To manifest how highly He loved chastity. He chose to be born 
of a virgin, He took virgins for His first soldiers, J He kept, and 
counselled virginity, and He died in presence of two virgins. § 
As to obedience, He never ceased from practising it from His 
birth to His death on the cross. Place your hopes in the Lord, 
He will guide and assist you. Take our rule with you, and a 
breviary, in order that you may be punctual in saying the Divine 
Office, and be always submissive to Brother Vidal, your Superior. 
My children, although I am greatly pleased to see the good-will 



* Bollandus, in the second tome of the Acts of the Saints for the month of 
January, page 62, n. 2, makes Wading say, ann. 1219, n. 48, eum (Berar- 
dum) Arabicse linguae ut cumque peritum concionaiorem vero egregium 
fuisse. J\evertheless, the following is what we find in the same place in the 
annals of Wading, in the Lyons edition of 1625, and in that of 1644, wluch 
we have before us in writing this : Frater Berardus perite callebat lingiuim 
Arabicam, We do not know \\hcther it is a mistake wliich Fleury has lol- 
lowed in his Ecclesiastical History, book 7S, n. 25. or whether there be some 
change in the other editions of Wading, which we have not seen. 

t Wisdom ii, 24. \. Holy Innocents. 

$ His Blessed Mother and S. John the Evangelist. 



190 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISL 

with which you embrace this undertaking, yet our separation is 
painful to my heart from the sincere affection I bear you ; but the 
commands of our Lord are to be preferred to my own feehngs ; I 
entreat you to have ihe Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ always 
present to your mind ; it will strengthen you and powerfully 
animate you to suffer for His glory/' 

These apostolic men, encouraged by this address of their 
Father, replied that they were ready to go into any country and 
expose themselves to the severest labors for the . interests of the 
faith ; that he need not hold out an example for them, by going 
himself among the infidels, as if his word was not sufficient ; that 
they did not think his orders too strict, and that they expected 
assistance from above for carrying them mto execution ; but that 
they required his prayers and blessing in order to gather some fruit 
in unknown lands, among barbarous people, enemies of the 
Christian name. '' He," rejoined the saint, with great animation, 
''who sends you, it is He who will take care of you ; you are 
under His protection, under the protection of God ; you belong 
no more to me from this moment ; I tear you from my bosom to 
send you as His laborers." They threw themselves on their 
knees, kissed his hands and prayed for his last blessing which he 
gave them weeping, in the following terms: — ''May the bless- 
ing of God the Father be upon you, as it descended on the 
apostles; may it strengthen you, guide you, and console you in 
your sufferings. Fear not ; the Lord is with you, as an invin- 
cible warrior ; go, in the name of God who sends you." 

We shall speak of their voyage when we come to relate the 
martyrdom they suffered in Morocco, on the i6th of January, 
1220. 

At length, Francis, anxious for the crown of martyrdom of 
which he had been twice disappointed, confided the government 
of his Order during his absence to Brother Elias, the Provincial 
of Tuscany, and set out on his voyage to Syria with twelve com- 
panions, the principal of whom were Peter of Catania, Baibaro 
Sabbatino, Leonard of Assisi, and lUuminus of Rieti. 

In the Marches of Ancona through which they passed, in order 
to embark at the last-named place, a young man came to solicit 
to be received into the society of Friars Minor, and the saint said 
to him : "If you are in the intention of joining the Poor of Jesus 
Christ, go and bestow on other* poor all that thou hast." The 
postulant went away and gave all he had to his parents whom he 
loved very much, without giving any to the poor. He then 
returned and said how he had disposed of his property. Francis 
censured his conduct in the strongest terms, considering him as a 
man who would be totally useless, and nowise fit for evangelical 
perfection. "Tender brother," he said to him, (for so he called 



S. FRAN'CIS OF ASSISf. I9I 

all those whom he considered good for nothing j '' Tender brother, 
go thy ways, you have neither left your country nor your kindred ; 
you have given what you had to your parents, and disappointed 
the poor ; you do not deserve to be received into the company of 
those who make profession of holy poverty. You commenced by 
the flesh, which is an unstable foundation for a spiritual edifice.'' 
This carnal and animal man returned to his parents, resumed 
his property, and rather than give it to the poor, he gave up the 
good purpose he had entertained. 

The love of his relations did as much disservice to this young 
man as the love of riches did to him whom our Saviour desired 
to sell all he had and give unto the poor.* Perhaps also he had 
an intention of findings a resource in what he gave to his relations, 
which is contrary to the entire renouncing of everything which 
Jesus Christ requires. For which reason, when St. Bonaventure 
relates this circumstance, he says, that St. Francis only admitted 
those into his Order who gave up all they had, and did not in any 
manner keep anything back. 

The man of God received many novices on his way. Many of 
his brethren in the vicinity accompanied him as far as Ancona, to 
witness his embarkation ; sorrowful, as had been the faithful of 
Miletus and Ephesus, who accompanied St. Paul embarking for 
Jerusalem, f although he had not told them, as the apostle did, 
that they would see him no more. The arrival of this holy band 
was so agreeable to the magistrates at Ancona, that they im- 
mediately allotted a spot for the erection of a convent, and had it 
commenced at their own expense. It was so large that when 
Francis returned from Palestine he caused it to be reduced out of 
love for holy poverty, and gave the model of a church which is 
still extant with a larger one, which was added to it. 

'[ he captain of a vessel who was about to take succors to the 
Christ an forces before Damietta, was so good as to receive him, 
one of twelve, on board his ship. All the religious who were 
there were desirous of going to sea with him, and each one vied 
for the preference, not only that they might accompany the 
Patriarch, but that they might obtain the crown of martyrdom, 
which they ardently wished for ; but not to mortify any of them, 
and to show no preferences, he prudently and with the mildness 
of a common father, addressed them as follows : — 

"My very dear children, there is not one of you, from whom 
I should wish to bo separated ; 1 wish you would all accompany 
me in the voyage 1 am about to make ; but it would have been 
unreasonable in me to ask the captain of the vessel to take you 
all. On which account, and that none should have reason to 



• Matt, xix, 21. t Acts xx, 25 and 28. 



192 S. FRANCIS OF .VSSISI. 

compiaiii, nor to be jealous of the others, I will not make the 
selection ; it must be made by God." And thereupon calling a 
child who happened to be on board, he said : "The Lord has 
often made His will known by the mouth of children, and I have 
no doubt he will do the same now ; let us ask this child, and let 
us credit w^hat he shall say ; God wdll speak through him." Then 
asking the child, whether it was God's will that all the religious 
who were with him should put to sea and make the voyage with 
him.? the child replied with a firm voice : '^No, it is not God's 
will." He then again asked which of them among those who 
were there present he should take ? The child, inspired by the 
Almighty, selected eleven, pointing them out with his finger, and 
going up to them as he named them. 

The religious, full of astonishment, were all satisfied : those who 
were destined to remain behind as well as those w^ho w^ere selected 
to accompany him. They fell on their knees, received the 
blessing of their common Father, and separated after having given 
to each other the kiss of peace. 

Francis embarked with his eleven companions ; they weighed 
anchor, and shortly after they reached the island of Cyprus, where 
they remained a couple of days. In this interval, one of the 
religious committed a fault w^hich was soon atoned for. In a 
gust of passion he made use of some harsh expression to one of 
his brethren before the others, and before another person who 
might have been scandalized at the scene. Reflecting on what 
he had done, and being immediately sorry for it, he took up some 
dung, and, returning to the spot, he put it into his mouth, and 
began chewing it, saying, "It is but just that he who has 
offended his brother by his speech, should have his mouth filled 
with filth." This act of penance was fully satisfactory to him 
who had been ofl'ended, and made such impression on the 
gentleman who had witnessed the scene, that he offered himself 
and all he possessed to the service of the Order. 

From Cypru-., Francis proceeded to Acre,* from whence he 
sent his companions, two and two, into such parts of Syria in 
which missionaries were most wanted. He himself preached for 
some days in the vicinity of the town, where he did some good, 
and then embarked again with llluminus to join the army of the 
crusaders who were besieging Damietta. We shall now speak of 
the crusade, and of this siege. 

At the council of Lateran,f which was held in 12 15, Pope 

* A town of Phoenicia in Syria, on the confines of Palestine, called by the 
Hebrews Aeon, and Ptolemaide by Ptolemy, king of Egypt. It is called S. 
John dAcre, because of the long stay there of the knights of S. John of 
Jerusalem. 

t Cone. I^t. 4, Serm. i, Inn. Pop. 



S. J 'i; AN" CIS OV ASS I SI. 



193 



Innocent III represented so energetically the miserable state to 
which the Christians in the Holy Land were reduced under the 
domination of the Saracens, that in order to deliver them from so 
cruel a slavery, the council ordered the assembly of a similar 
crusade to that which had been ordered two centuries before, for 
the same object. The bishops proclaimed it everywhere with 
great ardor, and the Pope, to give it greater weight, went him- 
self into Tuscany to preach it after having published it at Rome. 
This great Pope, dying on the i6th of July, 12 16,* Honorius 
III, who succeeded him, imitated his zeal, and wrote to the 
princes and prelates of all Europe, and sent legates everywhere, 
to urge the execution of what had been decreed in the council of 
Lateran. The success was as prompt as it was fortunate, so that 
at the time fixed, that is, on the ist of June, 12 17, an infinity of 
crusaders, principally from the North cf Europe, were in readiness 
to set out for Palestine, by land and by sea.f 

After some expeditions, the crusaders thought that, instead of 
operations in Palestine, to which they had hitherto confined them- 
selves, it would be advisable to carry the war into Egypt, be- 
cause it was thence that the Sultans sent large armies into the 
Holy Land against the Christians ; and this had been the opinion 
of Pope Innocent at the Lateran Council. J It was therefore 
decided to lay siege to Damietta, the strongest town in Egypt, 
and from its situation the key of that kingdom. The first of 
those who sailed arrived before the place on the 30th of IMay ; 
they disembarked, and intrenched themselves without meeting 
with any resistance, and when the remainder of the army arrived, 
the attack commenced. 

The siege lasted nearly eighteen months, with ultimate success, 
and some astonishing acts of bravery were witnessed. Coradin, 
(or Moaddam) the Sultan of Damascus, came with an army 
much more numerous than that of the Crusaders, and besieged 
them in their intrenchments ; and Meledin, (or Melic Camel) 
his brother. Sultan of Egypt or of Babylon, § having brought an 
equally numerous army, they drew up their troops in order of 
battle, on the last day of July, 1219, in the early morning, and 
appeared before the Crusaders' lines, which they attacked on 
several points. The battle was obstinately contested ; it lasted 
till night, and the Saracens seemed to have the victory, but it was 
torn from them, chiefly by the indomitable braveiy ofthe Erench, 

* Ep. Honor. III. lib. i, epist. I, et seq. f Raynald, ad ann. 12 16, n. 28. 
t Jac. Vitr. Hist. Orient, lib. 3, ad ann. 1 218. 

§ He was called Sultan of Babylon, from his capital city called Babylon 
of Egypt, or the new Bal^ylon, to distinguish it from tl:e Babylon of Asia on 
the Euphrates, built by Nimrod, tlie capital of C'haldca. It was opposite 
Memphis, near the Nile, and on its ruins Grand Cairo is built. 

9 



194 ^. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

supported by the Grand Master of the Temple, and the Teutonic 
knights, who drove the infidels far from their lines with great 
slaughter. Dissensions then arose between the cavalry and infantrv 
of the Crusaders.* They accused each other of cowardice, a 
reproach very gratmg to military men ; the consequence was, that 
a turbulent rivalr)- ensued, in order to prove which had the greate.>t 
cx)urage, and they compelled John de Brienne, king of Jerusalem, 
who commanded the army, to lead them to the enemy and offer 
him battle. 

It w^s at this moment that Francis arrived at the camp, having 
no other arms than those of faith, f He said to his companion, 
with deep sighs: — ''The Lord has revealed to me, that if they 
come to blows, the Christians will be worsted. If I tell them this, 
I shall be considered as an idiot ; and if I do not tell it, my con- 
science will reproach me ; what do you think of it.?'' His com- 
panion, whose name was lUuminatus, and who indeed was filled 
with light, replied : — "'^ly brother, do not let the opinions of 
men guide you ; it is not the first time that you have been looked 
upon as one bereaved of sense. Clear your conscience, and fear 
God more than the world.'' Francis immediately went and 
warned the Christians not to fight, and foretold them that if they 
did, they would be beaten. 

Minds were, however, too much excited to listen to sound reason ; 
the words of the saint were taken for ravings. On the 29th of 
August, when the heat was overpowering, the whole of the 
Christian army left their lines and offered battle. The enemy at 
first retired, in order to draw the Crusader's to an extensive plain, 
where there was no water, and when he saw that thirst and fatigue 
had caused their ranks to be broken, he turned suddenly and fell 
upon the cavalry of the right wing which he took in flank ; it 
was soon broken and dispersed ; its rout caused the infantry 
which was supported by it, to fly, and the whole army would have 
been cut to pieces had not the king, followed by the knights of 
the three orders of French, Flemish and English, and other 

* Jac. Vitry, ibid, ad ann. 1219. 
t The author of the History of the Crusades, 2 torn. lib. 9, speaks thus : 
" It was then that S. Francis, conlrary to his custom, interfered in matters 
which were not wholly religious, and did all in his power to oppose ihis 
resolution (to give battle). As the Spirit of God agrees with common-sense, 
he foretold, with great reason, that so ill-concerted an undertaking would be 
fatal." Are we to be told that a saint interferes in matters which are not 
wholly religious, when he foretells, by inspiration from God, the loss of a 
battle? A\'as anything of this kind said of the prophets who predicted 
fatal events ? Moreover, why is the prediction of S. Francis to be attributed 
partly to the knowledge he had of the ill-concerted measures ? He spoke 
on the very day he arrived in the camp ; he knew nothing of the country, 
nor of war. nor of the measures about to be taken. Was it not intended to 
diminish what was supernatural and mai vellous in the prediction? 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISL 1 95 

troops, posted themselves in front and stopped the Saracens who 
werer pursuing the fugitives, and effected a beautiful retreat. The 
Christians lost on this occasion near six thousand men, besides 
prisoners, among whom were many of considerable note. This 
loss* was the accompHshment of what Francis had foretold ;■}" and 
it showed, adds St. Bonaventure, ^^that his valuable advice ought 
not to have been disregarded, since, accordmg to the words of the 
Holy Scriptures, ' the soul of a holy man discovereth sometimes 
true things, more than seven watchmen that sit on a high place to 
watch. '''J 

The faults of the Crusaders, and the ill-successes which often 
attended their measures, have given room to minds disposed to 
censure to condemn all wars undertaken against infidels, or 
heretics. Nevertheless, the Crusades, during two centuries, were 
suggested by the Sovereign Pontiffs, and by the councils of the 
Church, proclaimed by most holy personages, and authorized by 
their miracles ; led by Christian princes of all Europe, by many 
of our kings, by a Saint Louis, by men full of religious zeal, such 
as Godfrey of Bouillon, and Simon, Count of Montfort. Is there 
not somewhat of rashness in including such men as these in one 
sweeping condemnation ? If all the Crusaders had not equally 
pure intentions ; if debauchery insinuated itself into their armies, 
if prudence did not always regulate their proceedings ; if some- 
times even success did not crown their best- concerted measures, 
are these sufficient grounds for blaming the enterprise, or, are we 
only to judge of measures by the event .? 

Saint Bernard preached the crusade which was decided on in 
the year 1144, of which Louis Vli, King of France, had first 
formed the plan, and of which Pope Eugenius III, and the 
bishops of France approved. The preaching of the holy abbot 
was publicly supported by a prodigious number of miracles, § 
which even his humility could not dissemble. Tw^ powerful 



* It did not put a stop to tlie siege. The town of Daniietta was taken by 
the Crusaders, on the 5th of November of the same year. 

t This prophecy is related by the three companions of S. Francis, by S. 
Bonaventure, by Marin Sanut, and by many other writers, both ancient and 
modern. Raynald ad ann. 1219. Wading, ad ann. 1219, n. 87. 
X Ecclus. xxxvii, 18. 

^ The author of the History of the Crusades leaves to every one the choice 
of b lieving as he thinks proper, of the miracles performed by vS Bernard 
while preaching the Crusade. He gives two reasons whicli he affects to 
draw from two passages: the one from the Life of the Saint, written by liis 
secretary, Geoffry, book 3, chajx 4. the other, from the second book, De la 
Consideration, chap. I. But we have only to read ihe second passiiges to be 
convinced that these miracles were numerous and very pubhc. See the notes 
of Father Mabillon, in cap. I, lib. 2, De Consideratione, and in Epist. 142, 
S. Bernard ad Tolo.-ai.os. Histoirc des Croisades, in 4, torn. I, liv. 3, page 
209, and liv. 4, page 280. 



196 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

armies, the one commanded by the Emperor Conrad III, the 
other by the King of France, with the princes and nobiHty of the 
states, were calculated to inspire the infidels with terror. Never- 
theless, from various causes, nothing could have been more 
unfortunate than the issue of this war ; and, as the loss of these 
two armies was felt through the whole of France and through 
the whole of Germany, where St. Bernard had preached, and 
promised glorious success, public indignation fell upon him, and 
he was treated as a false prophet What he wrote to Pope 
Eugenius in his justification, must be considered as an answer to 
all those who, even in these days, condemn the CiTisades, the 
result of which was disastrous.* He says, "that Moses, in God's 
name, had solemnly promised the people of Israel to lead them 
into a very fertile land, and that God had even confirmed 
that promise by splendid miracles ; that, nevertheless, all those 
w^ho went out of Egypt perished in the desert without entering 
inio the land of promise, in punishment of the sins of the people 
during the journey ; that it cannot be said that this punishment 
was a contradiction of the promise, because the promises which 
God, in His goodness, makes to man, never prejudice the rights of 
His justice ; " and this reasoning the saint applies to the crimes 
committed in the armies of the Crusades. 

The Crusades, they say, were the devotion of those times, 
and had become fashionable. Yes, the devotion of those times : 
the devotion of the Popes, of the kings, of the princes, 
and of all the faithful of those days was to drive the infidels 
from the Holy Land, of which they had unjustly become the 
possessors ; to reestablish the holy places consecrated by the 
actions and sufferings of the Son of God ; to prevent the 
Mahometans from extending their dominion, so that the 
Christians should not groan under their tyranny ; and some- 
times to reduce, by force of arms, certain heretics who were in 
open rebellion, such as the Albigenses, when there was no 
other means of arresting the progress of their sect. Let it now be 
shown what is the devotion of our times, and in what it is prefer- 
able to that of our forefathers which they condemn. Truly, it is 
only requisite to have some share of good-sense, to be prepared to 
admit that there was true piety in the minds and in the conduct 
of those who lived in those days, as well as in the age and in the 
country in which we live. 

This digression may, perhaps, appear long, but we could not 
dispense with it for the honor of the religious and of the preceding 
ages; and, besides, it is connected with the life of St. Francis, 
who certainly ap[)roved of the Crusades, although, by a super- 



^ S. Bernard de Considerat. lib. 2, cap. I. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSIST. 1 97 

natural inspiration, he blamed a particular enterprise of the 
Crusaders which had the unfortunate issue which he had foretold. 

The ardor of his charity which urged him to labor for the 
conversion of the Saracens, and to expose himself to martyrdom, 
induced him to take the resolution to present himself to the 
Sultan of Egypt. "We saw,'' says James de Vitry, "brother 
Francis, the founder of the Order of the Friars Minor, a simple 
and unlearned man, though very amiable and beloved by God 
and man, who was respected universally. He came to the Chris- 
tian army, which was lying before Damietta, and an excess of 
fervor had such an effect upon him, that, protected solely by the 
shield of faith, he had the daring to go to the Sultan's camp to 
preach to him and to his subjects the faith of Jesus Christ.''* 

The two armies were in sight of each other, and there was 
great danger in going from one to the other, particularly as the 
Sultan had promised a handsome reward in gold to any one who 
should bring him a Christian's head.i^ But this w^ould not deter 
such a soldier of Jesus Christ as was Francis, who, far from fearing 
death, eagerly sought it. He betook himself to prayer, from 
which he arose full of strength and confidence, saying with the 
prophet : "Since Thou art with me, O Lord. 1 will fear no evil, 
though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death ; "f and 
he set out for the infidel camp. 

Two sheep which he met on setting out, gave him much joy. 
He said to his companion : " My brother, have confidence in the 
Lord, the word of the Gospel is being fulfilled in us, which says : 
Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. "J In 
fact, only a very little farther on, some Saracens rushed upon 
them, as wolves upon sheep, insulted and beat them, and bound 
them. Francis said : "I am a Christian, lead me to your mas- 
ter ; " and God permitted that he should be so led to comply 
with the desire of His servant. 

The Sultan Meledin asked him who sent them, and for what 
purpose they came '^ Francis answered with courageous firmness : 
"We are npt sent by men, but it is the Most High who sends 
me, in order that I may teach you and your people the way of 
salvation, by pointing out to you the truths of the Gospel." He 

* There is a detailed account of what passed there, taken in part from J. 
de Vilry, bishop of Acre, and subsequently Cardinal and bishop of Frascati, 
who was present at the siege of Damietta, and who saw S. Francis tliere ; 
partly from S. Bonaventure, on the testimony of the three companions of the 
holy patriarch, and of iM. Sanut, a writer well informed on the affairs of the 
Levant. J. Vitr. Hist. Occid. cap. 37, et Kpist. ad Lotliaring. ad calc. Hist. 
Orient, lib. 3. S. Bonav. Legend S. Francis, cap. 9 and 11. ALir. Sanut, 
.«;ccret. fidel. cruc. Ub. 3, part II, cap. 7 and 8, tom. 2. Gesta Dei p. Franc. 

t Psalm xxii, 4. 

} Matt. X, 16. 



198 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

immediately preached to him, with great fervor, the dogma of 
One God in Three Persons, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the 
Saviour of mankind. 

Then was seen verified what our Saviour said to His apostles : 
''For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adver- 
saries shall not be able to resist or gainsay/'* Meledin became 
so mild and tractable, that, admiring the courage of Francis, he 
listened quietly to him for some days, and invited him to stay 
with him. The man of God said : " If you and your people will 
be converted, I will remain for the love of Jesus Christ. And if 
you hesitate between His law and that of Mahomet, let a great 
fire be lit up, and I will go into it with your priests, in order that 
you may see thereby which is the faith to follow.'"' " I do not 
believe,'' replied the Sultan, "that any of our priests would go 
into the fire, or suffer any torments for his religion. ""j" He 
answered thus because he perceived that as soon as the fire was pro- 
posed, one of the eldest of the priests, one who was of the most 
considerable of them, got quickly away. ''If you will promise 
me," added Francis, "that yourself and your people will embrace 
the Christian faith, in case I come forth from the fire safe and 
sound, I will enter it alone ; if I am burnt let it be imputed to 
my sins ; but if God preserve me, you will then acknowledge that 
Jesus Christ is the true God and Saviour of mankind." 

iNIeledin acknowledged that he dared not accept this challenge, 
lest it should be the cause of a sedition ; but he offered him rich 
presents which the servant of God despised from his heart as so 
much dirt. Such entire disengagement from the good things of 
this world inspired the Prince with such veneration and confidence 
that he entreated the Saint to receive his presents, and to distribute 
them among the poor Christians or to the churches for the salva- 
tion of his soul. Francis who had a loathing of money, and who 
did not find in the Sultan any groundwork of religion, persisted 
in his refusal of these offers. He, moreover, thought it was time 
to leave the infidels when he saw no prospect of effecting any 
good, and where he had no further chance of gaining the crown 
of mart}Tdom ; and he learnt by a revelation that what he in- 
tended was conformable to the will of God. The Sultan, on his 
part, fearing that some of his people might be moved by the dis- 
course of Francis, and, being converted, might join the Christian 
army, caused him to be escorted with marks of consideration to 

* Luke xxi, 15. 
t S. Francis called those priests whom the Mahometans call Imaums, who 
are the ministers of their rehgion, who have the care of their mosques, and 
perform the pubhc prayers there under the authority cf the chief Imaum. We 
have retained the term priest, because it is in the Legend of S. Bonaventure. 
^>ce the Bibhoth. Orientale of D'Herbelot, under the word Imaums. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



199 



the Christian camp before Damietta, after having said to him in 
private : ' ' Pray for me, that God may make known to me what 
rehgion is most agreeable to Him, in order that I may embrace it." 

Was it not a sight worthy of God, of angels, and of men, to 
see on one side Francis, clothed in sackcloth, pale, emaciated, 
disfigured by his penitential austerities, pass through an army of 
infidels, and present himself boldly before their Sovereign, speak 
to him against the law of their prophet, and exhort him to 
acknowledge the divinity of Jesus Christ ? and, on the other side, 
the Sultan of Egypt, the mortal enemy of the Christians, elated 
by the victory he had just gained over them, and anxious to shed 
more of their blood, suddenly lose all his ferocity, become mild 
and tractable, listen attentively to the poor one of Jesus Christ, 
endeavor to retain him^, offer him large presents, admire his 
poverty, his disinterestedness, his courage, ask the aid of his 
prayers, that he might know and embrace the true religion, and 
send him back to the Christian camp with honor ? How certain 
it is that the religion of Jesus Christ will never be made more 
respectable and amiable to the infidels than by the practice of 
the exalted virtues which it teaches, and by which it became 
established in the world. 

Another scene which is not less striking in the eyes of piety, is 
the heart of Francis, burning with anxiety to shed his blood for 
the glory of his Master, and not being able to satisfy that ardor. 
Already, in the hope of attaining it, he had embarked for Syria, 
and contrary winds had driveri him back to the Christian shores. 
He had gone into Spain in order to pass into Africa, when a 
violent illness compelled him to desist from the undertaking. 
He thinks he already grasps the palm, when he finds himself in 
Egypt ; in order to hasten the accomplishment of his desires, he 
places himself in the hands of the infidels, and attacks the t}Tant 
on his throne ; when, instead of the opprobrium and tortures 
which he sought, he finds nothing but mildness and curiosity, 
attentions and honor. He seeks for martyrdom, and martyr- 
dom flies from him. ''It was," St. Bonaventure remarks, ''by 
an admirable disposition of Divine Providence, who chose that 
the ardent desire of his faithful servant should give him the merit 
of martyrdom, and that his life should be preserved to receive the 
glorious stigmata which were to be impressed on his body by a 
singular prerogative, in reward of his great love for Jesus crucified, 
who inflamed his heart." 

Wading relates,* upon the authority of a religious of the Order, 

* In the work entitled, Scriptores Ordinis Minorum, at the word Hut^o- 
linus de Sancta Maria in iMonte, it is said: I have in my hands the manu- 
script bcautifLdly written, of the history in which Uj^oUno rdates the UtV 
and actions of S. Francis and his comjianions. 



2GO S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

who was a contemporary of St. Francis, whose name was Ugolino 
of St. Mary of the Mount, corroborated by some other writers of 
the Order, that the sultan was converted and baptized. Some 
later authors deny this,"^ and remark that they have mistaken the 
Sultan of Egypt for the Sultan of Iconium, who never saw St. 
Francis, and of whom James of Vitry says,*}" that he was believed 
to have received baptism at his death which happened in the 
year when Damietta was besieged. It is admitted that Wading 
was mistaken J in quoting this passage to prove the conversion of 
the Sultan of Egypt, but that does not weaken the evidence of 
Ugolino. He says that Francis went a second time to the sultan 
before his return to Italy ; that he urged him to be converted, and 
that, not being able to induce him to overcome the human 
obstacles which stood in the way, he prayed fervently for him for 
several successive days, and that his prayers were heard ; which he 
communicated to Meledin, who imbibed great affection for him, 
and wished to detain hun, but he departed according to the com- 
mand that he had received from heaven : that some years after, 
this prince being dangerously ill, the Saint appeared to two of his 
religious who were in Syria and ordered them to go to him, 
instruct him, baptize him, and remain with him till he should 
expire ; all which was complied with. There is nothing in all 
this which is not very probable, and which is not consistent with 
circumstances that cannot be called into question. 

1. We have seen, in the narratives of James of Vitry, and of St. 
Bonaventure, that Meledin said to Francis, ''Pray for me, that 
God may make known to me which religion is most agreeable to 
Him ;'' and that he wished to induce him to receive his presents, 
in order to distribute them lo the poor Christians, or to the 
churches, for the salvation of his soul. 

2. After he had seen the holy man, he treated the Christians 
with great humanity, § and shortly after their discomfiture, he sent 
seme of his prisoners to their camp, to offer terms of peace. In 
the year 1221, their army, || which was coming to offer him battle, 
entangled itself between two branches of the Nile, where it must 
have inevitably perished. ''He behaved to his enemies," says 
one of our authors,^ "in such a manner as could not reasonably 



* Spond. ad ann. 1219, n. 3. Histoire des Croisades, torn. 2, liv. 9, p. 263. 

t J. Vitr. Hist. Orient, lib. 3, ad ann. 1219, page 1142. 

t J. de Vitry says : Mortuus est Soldanus Ichonii, qui creditur baptizatus 
fuisse. Wading has apparently thought that the Sultan of Egypt had died 
at Iconium, although this town, which is in iVsia Minor, is very far from it, 
and he did not know that there was a Sultan of Iconium. Moreover, he did 
not reflect that MeJedin, having lived many years afterwards, could not be 
the ])erson whose death i)e Vitry recorded in 12 19, at the siege of Damietta. 

$ Sanut supr. capo. 9. || Spond. ad ann. 1 22 1 n. 17. 

II HLst. des CroLS. as above, liv. 10, pa~e 291. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 20I 

have been expected from a Saracen, and which in these days 
would do honor to a Christian prince were he to do it." 

3. An author, whose testimony on such a point is beyond 
suspicion,* says, '^that this suUan, being on his death-bed, caused 
a large sum of money to be distributed among the poor Christians 
who were sick in the hospitals, and that he left a considerable 
revenue for the same purpose ; that he enfranchised many slaves, 
and that he had operated various other acts of mercy, and that his 
death was greatly lamented by the Christians, whom he spared to 
the utmost of his power ; that the Emperor Frederic was long 
inconsolable, having had strong hopes that he would have received 
baptism according to a promise f he had given him to that effect, 
and that he would strenuously contribute to the propagation of 
Christianity in the Levant. '' 

4. It may have happened that St. Francis, who was then in 
heaven, appeared to two of the religious of his Order, and that he 
sent them to Meledin ; that these religious instructed and baptized 
him ; and that the thing was done secretly from the circumstances 
of the times ; that the authors of those times were not informed of 
it, and that Ugolino learned it from the religious themselves. In 
short, it is not improbable that the conversion of this soul should 
have been granted to the zeal, labors, prayei*s and tears of such a 
friend of God as St. Francis. Thus, the baptism of the sultan is 
not so very uncertain, and those who have recorded it J have not 
given the Saint praise which may be called false, as Wading has 
been acrimoniously taxed wdth. After all, if Meledin was not 
converted, it is a judgment of God, which those must be fearful of 
vv^ho recommend themselves to the prayers of the pious, forming 
projects of convei*sic)n, and even doing some good w^orks, and yet 
positively resist the grace vouchsafed them, which requires an 
effectual change of heart. If he was converted, which is probable, 
it was a great effect of divine mercy, which sinners must not abuse 
by deferring their repentance ; these graces are very rarely given, 
and those who wait for them run great risk of their salvation. 

There is good reason for thinking that he gave Francis and his 
companions leave to preach in his dominions, since it is well 
known that the Friars Minor began from that time to spread 
themselves amongst the Saracens, as James de Vitiy says : — 
"Even the Saracens, blinded as they are, § admire the humility 
and perfection of the Friars Minor, receive them well, and provide 
them cheerfully with all the necessaries of life, when they go boldly 
amongst them to preach the gospel ; they listen to them willingly, 

*MaLh. Paris, p. 318, Edil. Paris, 1644. 

t It was no doubt in 1229, when this Knipcror, who was Frederick II, 
cntjrcd into a tre:ty with him. Rayii. 1329. 

I Hist, des Ciois., as al)0\c. h\'. 9. p. 203 and 264. ^ IJist. l)ccid. cap. 32. 



2C2 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

speaking of Jesus Christ and His doctrine : but they beat them 
and drive them away if they attack Mahomet, and hold him as a 
liar and mfidel.*' 

An anecdote, related by St Bonaventure, may have easily hap- 
pened in those times. A Saracen seeing some Friars ]\Iinor, was 
moved by iheir poverty and offered them some money, which 
they refused to accept, and this astonished him. Having under- 
stood that it was for the love of God that they refused money, he 
conceived such a liking for them, that he undertook to provide 
them with everything necessary for them as long as he was able. 
The holy doctor exclaims on this: — "'O inestimable excellence 
of povert};, which is so powerful to inspire a barbarian with such 
tender and generous compassion I " It would be a shameful and 
\ery criminal thing, were Christians to despise and trample under 
foot this precious evangelical pearl, for which a ^Mahometan showed 
such esteem and respect. 

While Francis remained in Eg}'pt, he did not gather much 
fruit from among the infidels : but his words were a fertile seed 
w^hich his disciples reaped the abundant har\^est of, when after- 
wards sent thither by Gregor)- IX and Innocent III. 

Ugolino of St I\Iar}% who has been before quoted, und some 
others say that he himself had the first fruits, after a signal victor}' 
which he gained over the devil, who tempted him to sin through 
a female of considerable beauty. The Saint, they say, having 
then received the gift of counsel, replied that he would consent, 
provided he might choose the place. It was a room in which he 
spread burning coals, on which he laid himself down, after having 
taken oft his miserable tunic ; he then said to the Egyptian : — ■ 
' ' This is the place which suits me. I choose this fire in order to 
escape from other fires ; if those inflame you, then no water so 
well adapted to quench them as this."' God, by a miracle, pre- 
vented his being burnt, and the wanton female, touched by grace, 
fell on her knees and asked pardon, and then retired penetrated 
with contrition. Francis instructed her in the truths of religion ; 
she became a Christian and chaste, and was so fervent, that, like 
another Samaritan, she brought over many others. This is one 
of the extraordinar}' actions sometimes found in the lives of the 
saints, in which the sanctit}' of those who are the actors in them, 
and the good which results from them manifest that they are the 
fruits of a divine inspiration. 

The Saracens were not the only objects of the zeal of Francis. 
He labored also for the salvation of the Christians in the army of 
the Crusaders, and some of them became his disciples. James 
de Vitn^, Bishop of Acre, "^ writing to his friends in Lorraine in- 

* T. Vitr. Epi.st, ad Lothariiig, ad col. Hist. Orient lib. 3. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 203 

formed them that Renier, the Prior of St. Michael,* had joined 
the Order of the Friars Minor ; and that three of the most 
eminent of his clergy had followed his example, and that it was 
with difficulty he prevented the chorister and several others from 
taking the same course, to which he adds that this religious Order 
spreads fast in the world because it is an exact imitation of the 
form of the primitive Church, -j- and of the life of the Apostles. 

The most ancient records of the Order assure us that after some 
months' residence in Egypt, the holy Patriarch went to Palestine, 
and visited the holy places, but they enter into no particulars. 
What we may safely conjecture is, that God, who led him into 
the Holy Land, seemed to say to him, as He had said to Abraham : 
''Arise and walk through the land in the length and in the 
breadth thereof, for I will give it to thee ; ''J and repeat what He 
said of Caleb : "I will bring him into this land which he hath 
gone round, and his seed shall possess it." 

Rather more than a"hundred years after his death, the Sultan of 
Egypt permitted the Friars Minor to take charge of the Holy 
Sepulchre of our Lord, and they still have the care of it in the 
midst of the infidels, under the protection of the eldest son of the 
Church. § This privilege, which is so honorable for the Order of 
St. Francis, and justly considered by them as the fruit of the 
fervent devotion of the blessed Patriarch to Jesus Christ crucified, 
will be more particularly spoken of when we come to notice the 
history of the stigmata. 

From Palestine Francis went to Antioch, the capital of Syria, 
and passed by the black mountain, where there was a celebrated 
monastery of the order of St. Benedict. The abbot who had 
died only a short time before, had foretold that there would soon 
come to their house a saintly man, who was much beloved by 
God, the Patriarch of a great Order, who would be poorly attired 
and of mean appearance, but very much to be revered ; in conse- 
quence of which the religious, hearing of hi^ coming, went in 
procession to meet him, and received him with all the honors due 
to a man of God. He remained some days with them, and the 
holmess which they obseiTcd in him made such an impression 
upon them, that they embraced his institute, || placing all their 
effects at the disposition of the patriarch of Antioch. Some other 



* It is perhaps a town in Lorraine, vulgarly called S. Mitrul. 

t He makes a more ample eulcgium in another place, which will be notice*! 
hereafter, 

t Genesis xiii, 17. Numb, xiv, 24. 

$ Spond.ad ann. 1236, n. 11, Wading, ad ann, 1233, n, 10, ct ad ann. 3421, 
n. 20. 

II Wading replies to the difficulties whicli seem to tluuw dovd)ls on (liis 
event, ad ann. 1 2 19, n. 66, et sc(|. 



204 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

monasteries followed their example ; and, in a few years, there w^as 
a flourishing province in that country, which continued until such 
time as the Saracens ravaged the whole of Syria. 

While Francis was thus employed in extending his Order in 
the East, Brother Elias, who was his vicar-general in the West, 
was destroying it there. He said to the religious, in their confer- 
ences, that the life of their Founder was w^orthy of the highest 
praise, but that it was not given to all to imitate it ; that among 
the things w^hich he had prescribed for them, some appeared in 
the eyes of prudence very difficult of observance, others absolutely 
impracticable and beyond the strength of man ; that, in the 
opinion of the most prudent, some modification was requisite and 
some change required, some practices tolerated, which were not so 
strictly regular, from regard to human weakness in a time of 
infirmity and of decay. By specious insinuations of this nature, 
he brought over many to his opinions, and even some of the 
provincials who ventured to represent the simplicity of their Father 
as imprudent. The vicar-general, nevertheless, in conjunction 
with the ministers, made some regulations for the government of 
the provinces which w^ere very useful ; but, by a strange inconsist- 
ency, at the time when they w^ere talking of modifications, they 
prescribed total abstinence from meat, and forbade its use either in 
or out of the cloisters, w^hich was a direct contradiction of the rule, 
which permits the Friars Minor, except in times of fasting, to eat, 
according to the terms of the Gospel,"^ w^hatsoever is put before 
them. 

All those w^ho had the true spirit of God were greatly grieved to 
see that human prudence was preferred to the divine will, and that 
the vineyard of the Lord was rendered desolate by Brother Elias. 
They put up fervent prayers to God for the speedy return of their 
pastor, so necessary for the flock; and, after having secretly con- 
certed together, they sent Brother Stephen into Syria, to com- 
municate to their Founder what was going on. Stephen went 
and gave him a full detail of all things. Francis was not cast 
dovv'n by this deplorable intelligence, but he had recourse to God, 
and recommended to His protection the family he had received 
from him. As to the regulation which prescribed entire abstinence 
from meat, he, with great humility, asked the advice of Peter of 
Catana, w^ho replied : ''It is not for me to judge ,- it is for the 
legislator to decide thereon, as on all the rest." Francis deferred 
the decision till his return, and embarked immediately for Italy. 

His voyage was not a long one ; they soon anchored at the Isle 
of Candia, from whence they came to Venice where they landed. 
He sent circular letters to convene the chapter which he proposed 

* Luke X, 8. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 205 

holding at the ensuing Michaelmas, to remedy the evil which had 
been brought about by Brother Elias. He built a small chapel 
near the Venetian lakes, (Lagunes, )* in which two of his 
religious were to say the Divine Office, in memory of an extra- 
ordinary thing which happened to him at this place, which will 
be related with other similar ones, lliis first establishment was 
enlarged some years after, and was followed by the building of a 
convent m Venice itself, which the magnificence of a patriarch 
of the house of Grimani has rendered very considerable. 

The Saint then went to Padua, Bergamo, Brescia, the island of 
the lake of Garda, to Cremona and Mantua ; at all these places 
there were convents of his Order. We are assured that St. 
Dominic joined him on his way ; that they conferred together 
and with John of Navarra de Torniella, Bishop of Bergamo, on 
the salvation of souls ; that they n.ade some pious visits to the 
solitaries of the valley of Astino, and that the patriarch of the 
Friars Preachers celebrated mass there, that of the Minors being 
the deacon at the service. When they were in spiritual conference 
at Cremona, the religious came to request them to bless the well, 
and to solicit the Almighty to purify the water which was thick 
and muddy. Dominic, at the entreaty of Francis, blessed a vessel 
full of the water, and caused it to be thrown back into the well, 
and all which was subsequently drawn from it was clear and 
wholesome to drink. 

The two saints separated, but, shortly after, met again at Bologna. 
Francis, going to Bologna, met a woman whose son was epilepdc, 
and who came to beg the aid of his prayers. He wrote on a slip 
of paper some short but very devout ejaculatory prayers which he 
desired might be taken to the sick youth ; they had no sooner 
been given to him, than he was entirely cured ; in gratitude 
whereof, he placed himself at the sei-vice of the Friars Minor in 
the convent of Parma. 

The reputation of the holy man was so great, that, according 
to Sigonius,f the streets were choked with the number of students 
who wished to see and hear him. It was with difficulty that way 
was made for him to reach the principal square, where he preached 
in so sublime a manner that they thought diey heard an angel 
and not a man. The greater part of the audience was converted ; 
and many soHcited the habit of the Order, among whom were 
Nicholas of Pepulis, Bonizio, Pelerino, Falleroni, and Riger or 
Ricer of Modena. Nicholas was that learned jurisconsult who 
had been so kind to Bernard de Quintavalle in 121 1, when every 



• This is the name given to the sinuosities of the Adriatic Sea around 
Venice as far as the Lido. 

t Sigonius de Episc. Bonc^n. Hb. 2, ad ann. 1220. 



2o6 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

one had treated him with contempt at Bologna. Bonizio excelled 
in the love of holy poverty, and was very useful to the Saint in 
affairs of importance, by the talent he had of managing with 
prudence. Pelerino and Riger were young gentlemen from the 
Marches of Ancona, who were students at Bologna, and to whom 
Francis foretold all they would do in the course of their lives. 
The first would only be a lay-brother, although he was well versed 
in canon-law ; it was said of him that when he was in company 
with men of the world, either from necessity or from charitable 
motives, he left them as soon as he could ; and when he was 
censured for so doing as being guilty of rudeness, he replied : 
''When we have sought Jesus Christ our Master,* we have never 
found Him either amongst relatives or amongst our acquaint- 
ances. The second attached himself to his holy Patriarch, and 
strove to imitate him in all things. Although he was eminently 
favored with the gift of chastity, he nevertheless avoided with great 
care the conversation of females, and he said to those with whom 
he was intimate, who were surprised at it : "I should perhaps 
lose the gift with which I have been favored by a just judgment 
of God, if I took fewer precautions : he who loves danger will 
perish in it."f 

Here is an authentic testimonial as to one of the sermons which 
Francis preached at Bologna in the year 1220; it is taken from 
the Archives of the church of Spalatro,J and it is found in the 
history of the bishops of Bologna, written by Sigonius : 

'*I, Thomas, citizen of Spalatro, and Archdeacon of the 
cathedral of the same town, saw, in the year 1220, on the day of 
the Assumption of the Mother of God, St. Francis preach in the 
square in front of the little palace where almost the whole city 
was collected. He began his sermon thus : ' The angels, the 
men, and the demons.' He spoke of these intelligent beings so 
well and with such precision, that many learned men who heard 
him, were astonished to hear such a discourse from the mouth of 
so simple a man. He did not diverge to draw a moral from 
different subjects, as preachers usually do, but as those- who dilate 
upon one point, he brought everything to bear upon the sole 
object of restoring peace, concord, and union which had been 
totally destroyed by cruel dissensions. He was very poorly clad, 
his countenance was pale and wan, and his whole appearance was 
uninviting ; but God gave such force and efficiency to his words, 
that they led to the reconciliation of a great number of gentlemen 
who were greatly exasperated against each other, and whose 
irritation had caused the shedding of no small quantity of blood. 
Tlie love and veneration for the Saint were so universal, and went 



Luice ii, 44. t Ecclus. iii, 27. t Sii^on. et supra. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 207 

SO far, that men and women ran to him in crowds, and those 
esteemed themselves fortunate, who could only touch the hem of 
his garments." 

The author who records this testimonial adds that he performed 
miracles also in Bologna. A child of quality was taken to him, 
who had what is called a pearl on his eye, which rendered him 
quite blind of it, and no remedy had been found for it. Francis 
made the sign of the cross over him from the head to the feet, and 
he was perfecdy cured. Having subsequently entered the Institute 
ol his miraculous physician, he saw much better with the eye on 
which the pearl had been than with the other. This miracle, 
which was known througho*JJthe city, increased so much the zeal 
and respect which the Bolognese had for the servant of God, that 
they could not tear themselves from him, and they gave him a 
secojid house for his institute, situated in a wood about a mile 
from the town. 

After these apostolical functions, he went to see Cardinal 
Ugolino, who was then legate in Lombardy, by whom he was 
received with marks of the most sincere affection. He proposed 
next to visit the convent of his Order which was close to one of 
the gates of Bologna, but as soon as he saw it, finding it much 
more spacious and handsome than was requisite for strict poverty, 
he turned away his eyes from it, and said indignantly : "Is this 
the dwelling of the poor evangelical laborers ? Such grand and 
superb palaces, are they for Friars Minor.? I do not acknowledge 
this house as one of ours, and I do not look upon those who 
dwell in it as my brethren. I, therefore, order and enjoin all those 
who wish to continue to bear the name of Friars Minor, to leave 
this house forthwith, and to give up "to the rich of the world 
buildings which are only fit for them." 

He was so implicitly obeyed, that even the sick, among whom 
was Brother Leo, one of his first companions, who is the relator 
of this circumstance, were carried out on the shoulders of their 
brethren and exposed to the air. There they all remained till the 
arrival of the legate, who, having been informed of what was 
going on, had come and appeased the holy man. He represented 
to him that it was necessary to allow the convents to be more 
spacious, in order that the infirm might have more air for restoring 
their health ; and that such as were, well should have more room 
for relaxing their minds. '' But as to the property," he added, "I 
can assure you that your brethren have no part in it, as it remains 
entirely in the founders. Moreover, if you have any further 
scruples on the subject, I declare to you that I take the whole 
upon myself in the name of the holy Roman Church." 

Francis could not resist the powerful reasoning of the prudent 
and pious legate, the protector of his Order. He, thcretore, 



2C8 S, FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

consented that his brethren should remain in the convent ; he 
even ordered them to return to it, but he would not go into it 
himself, and he chose to take the repose which nature required, in 
the house of the Friars Preachers, where he passed some days 
with his friend Saint Dominic. 

It would appear that St. Bonaventure had this circumstance in 
view, when he said : "that if it happened that St. Francis found 
in the houses which his brethren occupied, anything which looked 
like property, or that was too elegant, he wished the houses to be 
palled down, or that the religious should quit them, because he 
maintamed that the Order was grounded on evangelical poverty as 
its principal foundation, s J that if t|fc^ poverty was adhered to in 
it, it would flourish, but that it would perish if it was set aside." 

While the Saint was with the Friars Preachers, one of them, 
from feelings of compassion, begged him to return to his children, 
and to pardon the fault they had committed, but he replied : 
"Indulgence which gives rise to an easy relapse into sin, is nox 
to be commended. I will not sanction by my presence what has 
been committed against holy poverty." This charitable religiom 
endeavored to induce himi at least to see them, in order that they 
might be made aware of their fault, and be corrected. "We will 
come back here together,'' he said, "if you do not choose to 
remain there, after having performed this duty of superior/' 
Francis yielded to this prudent advice ; he went to his children, 
and seeing them grieved and repentant, and ready to receive the 
penance he might inflict, he pardoned them. 

His indulgence did not extend to the provincial, whose name 
was John de Strachia, one of those wdio wished to have the rule 
mitiiated in 1219. He censured him severely for having had so 
beautiful a house built, or, at least, for having permitted it to be 
built. He upbraided him in strong terms for having, without 
consulting him, opened a school for the studies of the Friars 
Minor, and for having made regulations for its conduct more 
favorable to science than to piety. He did away with this 
school, because he chose that his religious should pray rather 
than study, and that the other provincials might learn to be more 
humble and more religious in all that had relation to studies. 

And here we must advert to what happened at a later period ; 
the provincial had the rashness to reestablish the school after 
the departure of the Founder, who, having been informed of it, 
and knowing from interior revelation the obduracy of this man, 
cursed him publicly, and deposed him at the ensuing chapter.' 
The Saint was entreated to withdraw this curse, and to give 
his blessing to brother John, who was a noble and learned man, 
but he answered: "I cannot bless him whom the Lord has 
cursed." A dreadful reply which was soon after verified. This 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 209 

unfortunate man died, exclaiming, ^'I am damned and cursed 
for all eternity." Some frightful circumstances which followed 
after, his death confirmed his awful prognostic. Such a maledic- 
tion which pride and disobedience brought upon this learned 
man, ought to strike terror into those vain men who forsake 
piety for science, and in whom great talents have no other effect 
than to produce in them great attachment to their own conceits, 
and proud indocility, which induces, at length, even a revolt 
against the Church. 

St Francis was not averse to studies, as will be seen, when, 
two years after, he caused theology to Ipe taught. But he chose 
that they should so study as not to extinguish the spirit of prayer. 
He approved of science, but of that only, which the Holy Spirit 
calls religious, * which is sanctified by the fear of the Lord, of 
which St. Augustine says : ' ' that it is the companion of charity, 
and teaches humility," 

Cardinal Ugolino proposed to the servant of God that they 
should make a retreat of some days together, at Camaldoli,f in 
order to give his body some rest, which was borne down by 
fatigue, and relax his mind from -the various cares which oppressed 
it. He willingly assented to this, because he liked the life of a 
recluse. They, therefore, went to this holy solitude, and they 
remained there nearly a month, J solely employed in meditation 
on heavenly things. The cardinal took a cell at the entry of the 
desert where it is still to be seen ; and Francis took one near it, 
which had been inhabited by St. Romuald. It has since taken 
the name of St. Francis' cell, and is only occupied by the prior, or 
major of Camaldoli. The writers of the country add, that the 
festival of St. Francis is celebrated solemnly there, and that it is 
decreed by the statutes that the anthem which the Friars Minor 
chant shall be sung on that day : Salve, Sancte Pater, &c. 

* Ecclus. i. 17 and 26; S. August, in Psalm 142, n. 5. 

t This is the celebrated monastery which gave its name to the Order of 
Camaldulites, founded in the tenth century by St. Romuald, on the rule of 
St. Beneciict, with peculiar constitutions and the white habit. This place is 
in Romagna, in the states of Florence, on the further side of the river Arno, 
near a small town of the same name. 

I This is what led Father Tornamira, a Sicilian Benedictine, in the last 
century, to imagine and put in writing, that St. Francis had entered the 
Order of St. Benedict ; that the religious of that order had instructed him 
and assisted him in the composition of the Rules of the Friars Minor, that 
this Rule is in perfect accordance with that of St. Benedict, and many other 
things destitute of any probability, so that, if his book had not been con- 
demned at Rome, as it was by the sacred Congregation in 1682, it would 
not by its circulation have made much impression. Father Dominic de 
(jubernatis, chronologist of the Order of Friars Minor, has not omitted to 
point out the incorrectness of the fancies of the Sicilian, in his work entitled 
()rbis SeraphicLis, torn. T, lil). 4, cli. 8, 11. 13 ct sc([. P. Tornamira in S. 
B.-ikh1. abb. rntriaicli, lib. I. 



2IO S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

The two pious solitaries went from thence to Blount Alvernia, 
where they only staid a few days. The cardinal returned to 
Bologna, and Francis took the route for Assisi, in order to open 
the chapter at St. Mary of the Angels, as he had given notice. 

On the way, St. Bonaventure acquaints us what occurred to 
him. His infirmities and fatigue having compelled him to 
mount on an ass, his companion, Leonard of Assisi, who follow^ed 
him on foot, and was also veiy much fatigued, gave way to 
human feelings, and said to himself: "His parents were not the 
equals of mine : yet, there be rides, and I am forced to trudge on 
foot and lead him." As he was thus giving way to these thoughts, 
Francis, to whom God had made known what was passing in 
Leonard's mind, dismounted, and said : "No, brother, it is not 
fitting that I should ride while you walk on foot, because you are 
better born than I am, and are of greater consideration in the 
world.'' Leonard, greatly surprised, and blushing for shame, 
threw^ himself at his Father's feet, acknowledged his fault, and 
with tears solicited his pardon. 

As soon as the holy Patriarch entered the valley of Spoleto, his 
children came in crowds from various parts to meet him, and to 
congratulate him on his return. He was greatly gratified on 
seeing them, and communicated freely with them, encouraging 
the weak, consoling those who where in affliction, censuring such 
as were in fault, and exhorting them all to adhere strictly to the 
rules. It was there that he received a confirmation of the com- 
plaints which had been made to him in the Levant, against the 
government of Elias, his Vicar General, and he had himself the 
proof of it. 

Elias ventured to present himself to him, in a cleaner habit, 
and one made of finer cloth than those of the other brethren, the 
cowl of which was longer and the sleeves wider, and he assumed 
an air little suitable to his profession. Francis, dissembling what 
was passing in his mind, said to him before the assistants : — "I 
beg you to lend me that habit." Elias did not dare refuse : he 
went aside and took it off and brought it to him. Francis put it 
on over his own, smoothed it down, plaited it nicely under the 
girdle, threw the cowl over his head, and then, strutting fiercely 
with his head erect, he paced three or four times round the 
company, saying, in aloud voice: — "'God preserve you, good 
people." Then taking the habit oft' indignantly, he threw it from 
him with contempt, and, turning to Elias, "That is the way," he 
said, "that the bastard brethren of our Order will strut" After 
this he resumed his usual demeanor and walked humbly with his 
old and tattered habit, saying : — "Such is the deportment of the 
true Friars jNIinor." Then, seating himself amongst them, he 
addressed them in the mildest manner, and spoke on poverty and 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSIST. 211 

humility, of which he so forcibly pointed out the perfection, that 
it seemed to them that those whom they had previously considered 
the poorest and most humble, had made but small advance in 
the practice of those two virtues. In fine, he annulled all the 
novelties which the vicar-general had introduced into the Order 
during his absence, except the prohibition of eating meat, which 
he thought it necessary to retain some time longer, lest he might 
be thought to encourage gluttony. 

The means he had taken to curb the- foolish vanity of brother 
Elias, showed both his prudence and his authority, and made 
such an impression on his disciples, that there was not one of 
them who ventured to say a word in favor of the vicar-general, 
although he had his partisans amongst them. 

Some time afterwards, the Patriarch had an opportunity of taking 
off the prohibition of eating meat, in consequence of a wonderful 
event which is worthy of being recorded. 

■ A young man in the dress of a traveller, came in haste to the 
door of the convent of St. Mary of the Angels, and said to l^rother 
Masse, who was the porter : — '^ I wish to speak to Brother Francis, 
but I know he is meditating in the woods ; call Brother EHas to 
me, who is said to be learned and prudent, in order that he may 
satisfy a doubt which presses upon me. " I'he porter was turned 
away by Brother Elias, and was puzzled what reply to give the 
stranger, not to scandalize him, and not to say what was untrue. 
The young man anticipated him, saying, '' Brother Elias does not 
choose to come, I must therefore beg you to go to Brother Francis, 
in order that he may desire him to come to speak to me. " Masse 
went, and did as he was requested, and Francis, having his eyes 
fixed on Heaven, said, without changing his position : — "Go and 
tell Brother Elias that I order him to speak to the young man." 

This order vexed Elias, and he came to the door in great 
irritation, asking what he was wanted for.? '' Do not be angiy," 
said the young man, "I ask you, if those who profess to follow 
the Gospel may not eat whatever is given to them, as Jesus Christ 
has observed ; and if any one may rightfully direct the contrary.? " 
Elias, seizing hastily the door to shut it : — '' I know all that," he 
said, "and have no answer to give you but go your ways.'' The 
young man replied : — " 1 cannot tell what you would answer, but 
I know very well that you ought to give an answer." 

When Elias got calm in his cell, he reflected on what had 
passed, and on what would be proper to say in answer to llie 
questions which had been put to him ; and, iinding it difficult, 
and being sorry that he had given the yonng man so ungracious 
a reception, in whom he thought he had remarked something 
extiaordinary, he returned to speak to him, but he was 'j:,onQ and 
could not be found. 1^'rnncis learned from (lod that it was \\\\ 



212 S. FRANCIS OF xVSSISI. 

angel, and, on his return to the convent, he said to brother Elias ; 
— ''You do what is not right; you turn contemptuously away 
angels who come from God to visit and instruct us ; I gready fear 
that your pride will render you unworthy of the humble institution 
of Friars Minor, and that you will die out of that state." It was 
then that he revoked the statute which forbade eating meat* 

Bernard of Quintavalle returning from Spain, and being on the 
border of a river which he could not cross, the same angel 
appeared to him in the same form, and greeted him in the Italian 
language. Bernard, surprised at hearing the language of his 
country, and taken with the good looks of the young man who 
addressed him, asked him from whence he came. The angel 
then told him what had just occurred between him and brother 
Elias. He took him by the hand, carried him across the river, 
and disappeared, leaving him so full of consolation, that he had 
no fatigue during the remainder of his journey. When he arrived 
in Italy, and had related the circumstance, with the day and hour, 
he found that it was in fact the same angel. 

Before the opening of the chapter, Francis, reflecting mournfully 
on the relaxation which had been introduced into his Order by 
those who ought to have been most zealous in promoting the 
purity of its observance, had a vision, which was very extraor- 
dinary. A great statue appeared before him, and he saw it with 
his bodily eyes ; it greatly resembled that which Nabuchodonosor 
had seen in a dream, the interpretation cf which had been given 
him by the prophet Daniel, t God chose to employ this mode 

* The author of the Hist, de la Ville de Paris, printed in 1725 by Desprez 
and Desessarts, torn, i, Hb. 6, pp. 284 and 285, admits that there is no 
founder of a reh'gioiis order who has carried evangeUcal poverty, humility, 
penance, contempt of the world, and the general privation of everything 
worldly farther than S. Francis has, but he adds: " / e are bound, h')vv- 
ever, to remark that he is the first of the religious in the West, who has 
allowed the use of meat to those of his Order who are in health." He who 
has called on his readers to make this remark, would have done well to tell 
us what relation it has to the history of the city of Paris, and why he has 
inserted it, with many other things relative to the first Convent of the Friars 
Minor in that city, without which his work, with some greater correctness, 
would still be too extensive ? It will not be objected to him that St. Benedict 
did not prohibit his religious from eating poultry and other birds when in 
health, because on this head they are satisfied to abide by the decision of 
Don Mege, and the celebrated Abbot of La Trr.ppe. But we will tell him 
that if he wished to make a remark as to the use of meat, which St. Francis 
allowed to those of his Order, he should have added that the holy P^ounder, 
wholly devoted to the Gospel teaching, was compelled to let men devoted to 
an apostoUc life Hve as the aplastics did ; and that he was well awa e that, 
having no revenues, and subsisting on charity, they could not keep perpetual 
abstinence, and that^ nevertheless, they kept it at different times f.r more thaa 
half the year. 

t Dan. ii, 31 and 37. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 2I3 

to acquaint the holy Patriarch with the various revokitions which 
would take place in his Order, and he signified them to him by 
the statue itself, by the different metals of which it was composed, 
either thus to modify by these humiliating foreshowings the honor 
which he derived from being the Founder of so wonderful a work 
as that of the establishment of his Order, or to inspn-e him \vith 
the intention of sending up fervent prayers to heaven, which 
should draw down graces on his flock at all times ; which, in fact, 
he did with a profusion of tears ; or, in fine, it was a foresight 
given him of the relaxations which would be introduced, to enable 
him to advise his religious to be more vigilant, as St. Paul had 
predicted the errors and irregularities which were to occur in the 
Church, in order to excite the vigilance of the bishops.''' 
,e In Nabuchodonosor's vision, a stone was separated from the 
mountain, which, striking the feet of the statue, shivered it to 
pieces; the statue was wholly broken, and disappeared. f This 
did not occur in the vision which Francis had ; for the great body 
of religion which it represented, which has had its vicissitudes, as 
all others, and with more lustre than any, because of its more 
extensive and greater exposure to the eyes of the public, has never- 
theless continued to have existence, to maintain itself, to serve the 
Church at all times, and to furnish it with saints ; it has even 
often renewed itself with features which bring to mind its primitive 
beauty ; by which it may be said to be a type of the mystical body 
of Jesus Christ, which notwithstanding the decay of ages, does not 
cease to have vigorous and healthy members, by faith, hope, and 
charity, who are as fervent as those of the earliest periods. 

The holy Founder having listened to all that was said against 
the government of Brother Elias, and to what he had alleged in 
his justification, held his chapter on the festival of St. Michael, in 
the convent of Portiuncula. He substituted Brother Gratian, 
in the room of Brother John of Strachia, as provincial of Bologna, 
^ of which we have spoken before ; and Brother Peter of Catania, 
* in place of Brother Elias; Peter had been the second of his 
disciples, and into his hands he committed the whole guidance of 
his Order, not only because he did not think himself able to look 
to it in person, on account of the multitude of religious now 
belonging to it, and of his infirmity, but in order to improve 
himself in the virtue of humility, to which he was so much 
attached. 

He then assembled them all and said : *'I am now dead to 
you all ; there is Peter of Catania, who is your superior, whom 
henceforward we must all obey, you and I :" and prostrating him- 
self at the feet of Peter, he promised to obey him in all things as 



* Acts XX, 19. I Tim. iv, l. 2 Tim. iii, I. t Dan. ii. 34 aiul 35. 



214 >. j:R-\Nlis of Assisr. 

minister general of the Order. This title of minister general was 
displeasing to the religious, who did not wish it should be given 
to any one during the lifetime of their Father, and they agreed that 
he who took his place should only have tiie title of vicar general. 

Francis being on his knees, with his hands clasped, and his 
eyes lifted up to heaven, said, with affecting emotion, ^'My Lord 
Jesus Christ, I recommend to Thee this family, which is Thine 
own, and which up to this moment Thou hast confided to me. 
Thou knowest that my infirmities incapacitate me from ha\ing any 
longer the care of it ; I leave it in the hands of the ministers ; if 
it should so happen that on their part, negligence, scandal or 
too great severit}', should be the cause of any one of the brethren 
perishing, they will render to Thee, O Lord, an account of it at 
the day of judgment'"' 

From that time till his death he continued as much as it was in 
his power in the humble state of an inferior, although he did not 
fail to communicate to the sup)eriors the lights which God gave 
him for the good government of the Order, and on several occa- 
sions he could not avoid actin:^ as its Founder and General. 

St Dominic, his friend, had similar feelings as to the employ- 
ments of office. In this year he held the first chapter of his 
Order at Bologna, and wished to resign the station of superior, of 
which his humilit}' made him consider himself incapable and 
unworthy ; but his religious would not permit it These have 
been the feelings of all the saints, because they knew that, for the 
purpose of salvation, it was safer to obey than to command. 

Eight days before the chapter, Pope Honorius issued a Bull 
addressed to Francis, and to the superiors of the Friars TJinor,* 
by which he forbade them to receive any one to profession, unless 
after a twelvemonth's probation,*}* and directing that, after profes- 
sion, no one whosoever, should leave the order ; forbidding, 
also, any persons from receiving such as should quit it What 
gave rise to this measure was that at the commencement of the 
Order of Friars Minor, and of that of the Preachers, there were 

* The original of this Bull, sealed with lead, is preserved at Rome, in the 
Archives of the Convent of Ara Coeli, n. 38, and it is this which S. Francis 
quotes in the second chapter of his Rule, when he says, speaking of those 
who are professed according to the Ordinance of our Holy Father the Pope, 
they will not be permitted to leave the Order. 

t The Pope says in his Bull, which Wading relates in extenso, that there 
is hardly any religious Order in which a certain time of trial is not allowed 
before profession is made. Pope Alexander II, at a subsequent period, 
directed that tlie professions, made in the Orders of the Friars Preachers, 
and Minors without haring been preceded by a year of novitiate, should be 
null ; and the Council of Trent makes it a law for all Orders of any kind, 
whether of males or females. Cap. Xon solum, de regular, et transeunt. ad 
rehgion. in Concil. Trid., sess. 25, de Regvd. cap. 15. The Ordinance of 
Blois conformed thereto, in the 2Mh Article. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 21 ^ 

some who made their profession without a novitiate, for an unfixed 
term, according as the superiors thought proper under different 
circumstances, and this sort of precipitate engagement was found 
to have its inconveniences. 

Peter of Catania, acting as vicar geneial, and finding that he 
could not provide for the multitude of religious who came to the 
convent of St. Mary of the Angels, as to the chief monastery of 
the Order, thought that, in oider to provide for this, some portion 
of the property of the novices might be retained ; on which he 
consulted Francis to know whether he thought the suggestion 
proper, and if he would permit it. Francis said: *'My dear 
brother, God preserve us from this sort of charity, which would 
render us impious in respect of our rule, in order to acquire con- 
sideration in the sight of men." The vicar then asking what he 
should do for the relief of the guests; "Strip the altar of the 
Blessed Virgin," replied Francis, ''take away all the ornaments 
which are there ; the Lord will send you what is requisite to 
restore to his Mother what we shall employ in charity. Believe 
firmly that the Virgin will be pleased to see her altar stripped, 
rather than that there should be any contravention of the Gospel 
of her Son :" and he took occasion again strenuously to reoom- 
mend holy poverty. 

He also said many things relative to books, to science, and to 
preaching, which will be recorded in another part of his life. 
Brother Caesar of Spires, who had been professor of theology 
before becoming a Friar Minor, and w^ho was a man of great piety, 
having heard all that the Father said on the subject of science, 
and the learned, had a long conversation with him on the state 
of his soul, and on the observance of the rule, which he concluded 
thus: ''My Father, I have made a firm resolution, with God's 
grace, to observe the Gospel and the rule, according to the instruc- 
tion of Jesus Christ, until my death ; and now, I have a favor to 
ask you, which is that, if it may happen in my lifetime that some 
should swerve from it, as you have foretold, you give me your 
blessing from this moment, and your leave to separate myself from 
such transgressors, in order that I may adhere to the rule alone 
with those who have a like zeal with myself" Rejoicing at this 
proposition, Francis embraced him and blessed him, saying : 
"Know, my son, that what you solicit is granted to you by Jesus 
Christ, and by me;" and placing his hands on. his head, he 
added: "Thou art a priest forever according to the order of 
Melchisedech : " — the holy man desiring to have it understood 
thereby that all the promises he had leceived from Jesus Christ, 
would have their accomplishment to the end, in those who adhered 
to the rule to the letter, without comment and with holy joy. 

It was at this time that he addressed a letter to the relii2-ious of 



2l6 S. FKAXCLS OF ASSISI. 

his Order,* and particularly to the priests, upon the profound 
veneration which we ought to have for that august mystery of the 
Eucharist. As it is very long, we have reserved it also for the last 
book, where we shall point out the misuse which heretics and 
some modern critics have made of a passage in this letter. 

In the course of the year 1220, Francis received the news of the 
martyrdom of the five religious whom he had sent to Morocco. 
We must relate the circumstances, f since they belong to the life 
of the holy Patriarch, who gave this mission to these valorous 
soldiers of Jesus Christ, and that they were the first martyrs of the 
Order in his lifetime. 

Berardus, Peter, Otho, Ajut, Accursus, and Vital, their superior, 
having left Italy for Morocco, after having received their Father's 
blessing, as has already been noticed, arrived shortly after in the 
kingdom of Arragon, where Vital was detained some time by a 
lingering illness, which induced him to think that it was not 
God's will that he should continue his journey. He therefore 
let the other five proceed, who soon reached Coimbra, and 
were favorably received by Urraca Queen of Portugal, the wife of 
King Alphonso II. This princess conceived so high an opin- 
ion of their virtue and placed such confidence in them, that she 
entieated them to pray to God to reveal to them the time at 
which she should die. They promised to do so, although they 
considered themselves unworthy of making such a request ; but 
they were so favorably heard, that they foretold to the queen that 
they were to suffer martyrdom with all the circumstances thereof, 
that their relics would be brought to Coimbra, and that she would 
receive them honorably, after which she would be called from this 
world ; predictions which were fully verified. They went from 
thence to Alanquer, where the Princess Sancia, sister to the king 
of Portugal, approving their plans, induced them to put secular 
clothing over their religious habits, without which precaution they 
would not have been able to pass into the territories of Morocco. 

Having reached Seville, which was then occupied by the 
Moors, they remained a week concealed in the house of a 
Christian, where they threw off their secular clothing. Their zeal 
induced them to go forth, and they got as far as the principal 
mosque, which they attempted to enter in order to preach to the 

* Wading thinks this letter was written by S. Francis, in the year 1226. 
during his last illness ; but he gives no proofs of this in his notes on the 
letters of the Saint, of which this is the twelfth. Father Anthony Melissan 
de Ma:ro, in his Supplement des Annales de 1' Ordre, printed at Turin, in 
1 710, is convinced that it was written in 1220, and we have adopted his view 
for th^ reasons he gives. Wading ad ann. 1226, n. 10, et in argum. in Epist. 
J 2, S Francisci, Suppl. annal. Ord. Min., pag. 26. 

t Bollandus has given their Acts on the i6th January. Ad SS. Jauuar. 
torn. 2. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 21 7 

infidels, but they were driven back with loud cries and severely 
beaten. From thence they went to the gate of the palace, saying 
that they were ambassadors sent to the king from Jesus Christ, the 
King of kings. They were introduced, and said many things rel- 
ative to the Christian religion, to induce the king to be converted 
and receive baptism; but they aiterwards added much against Ma- 
homet and against his law, which irritated him to such a degree, 
that he ordered them to be beheaded; but being mollified by the 
entreaties of his son, he was satisfied with having them confined 
at the top of a tower, from whence he had them removed to the 
ground-floor, because, from above, they continued to speak of Jesus 
Christ, and against the prophet, to those who entered the palace. 
Having caused them to be again brought before him, he engaged 
to pardon them, if they would change their religion : ''Prince,'"' 
they replied, ''would to God that you would have mercy on 
yourself 1 Treat us as you think proper. It is in your power to 
take away our lives, but we are sure that death will lead us to a 
glorious immortality.'' The king, seeing their unshakeable 
firmness, sent them, by the advice of his council, to Morocco, with 
Don Pedro Fernandes de Castro, a gentleman of Castile, and 
some other Christians. 

They found there the Infant Don Pedro of Portugal, who had 
retired to that country in consequence of some misunderstanding 
which he had with his brother, King Alphonso, and who now 
commanded the troops of the king of Morocco. This prince re- 
ceived them with great respect and charity as apostolical men, 
and had them provided with every thing necessary for their 
subsistence. Knowing what had occurred to them at Seville, in 
consequence of their preaching, and seeing that, consequently, 
they were still in a state of great weakness, he endeavored to 
dissuade them from doing the same thing in Morocco ; but the 
generous missionaries, solely intent upon their pious object, 
ceased not to preach without any fear, wherever they met with any 
Saracens. 

One day, when Berardus was giving instruction to the people 
and was declaiming against Mahomet from a wagon, the king 
passed by, going to visit the tombs of his predecessois, and seeing 
that he continued his talking notwithstanding his presence, he 
thought the declaimcr must be out of his mind, and instantly 
directed that all the five should be driven out of the town, and 
sent back to the country of the Christians. The Infant Don 
Juan gave them an escort to convey them to Ceuta, whence they 
were to embark. On the road, they got stealthily away from 
their escort, and returned to Morocco, where they recommenced 
preaching in the great square. The king, being informed of this, 
became greatly irritated, and had them imprisoned, in order to 

10 



2tS s. fr-\xcis of ASSISL 

starve them to death. They were there twenty days without 
meat or drink. 

During this time the heat became so excesave and caused so 
much sickness, that it was thought that the hand of God fell 
hea\ily upon them to avenge his sen-ants. The king became 
alarmed, and by the ad\'ice of a Saracen named Abaturino, who 
loved the Christians, he liberated the prisoneiSL They were 
extremely surprised to find that, after twenty days' confinement 
\*ithout any nourishment whatsoever, they came out in full health 
and strength. 

As soon as they had left the prison, they were anxious to re- 
commence their preaching; but the other Christians, who were 
apprehensT^-e of the wrath of the king, opposed themselves to it, 
and had them taken to the place of embarkation ; but they again 
made theii escape, and returned to Morocco. Then the Inknt 
Don Pedro was induced to keep them in his palace, and to place 
guards over them to prevent their appearing in public. 

This prince being obliged to set out, some short time after, to 
take the command of the army which the king sent against some 
rebels, he took the Friars Minor with him, as well as several 
other Christians, fearing lest during his absence, they should 
escape fi-om these who had chaige of them. As he returned vic- 
torious, his army was three days without water, and was reduced 
to the greatest diistress. Brother Bemardus resorted to prayer, and 
ha\ing made a hole in the ground with a pickaxe, he caused 
a spring to flow from it, which sufficed for the whole army, and 
enabled them to fill their goat-skins, after which it dried up. 
So palpable a miracle procured for them from all parts the great- 
est \-eneration. Many even went so for as to kiss their feet 

When they returned to Morocco, the Infcmt continued to lake 
the same precautions as before, to prevent their appearing in 
public ; nevertheless, they found means to get out secretly on i 
Friday, and to present themselves before the kicg, as he wa; 
pasing, according to his custom, to visit the tombs of his pre- 
decessors. Berardus again got upon a wagon, and spoke in hi •- 
presence with astonishing intiepidity. The king, irritated beyoni 
control, gave ordeis to one of the princes of his court to hav3 
them put to death. This prince only had them put in prison, 
because he had witnessed the miracle which we have recorded 
above. 

They were veiy ill-treated in this confinement, but continued 
to preach even there, when there were either Christians or Sara- 
cens to listen to them. All this occurred towards the end of 
the year 1219. 

At the banning of the year 1 220, the Saracen prince who had 
received the order to put them to death, having sent for them 



S. FRAXCIS OF ASSISI 2I9 

from the prison, found them very firm in their faith, and that they 
spoke with the same boldness against their prophet Mahomet. 
He was so enraged at this, that, forgetful of the miracle he had 
witnessed on the return of the army, he directed them to be kept 
separated and tortured in various ways. They tied their hands 
and feet, and dragged them along the ground by a cord fastened 
round their necks, and they were so cruelly scourged that their 
bowels nearly protruded. Thirty men who were employed on 
this cruel service did not leave them till they had poured boiling 
vinegar and oil into their wounds, and rolled them upon broken 
pieces of eaithenware covered with straw. 

Some of those who guarded them, saw a great light which 
came from Heaven, and which seemed to raise these religious 
up, with an innumerable number of other persons ; they thought 
that they had left the prison and entered it in great haste, where 
they found them in fervent prayer. 

The king of Morocco, informed of what had been done, desired 
that they might be brought into his presence. They brought them 
to him naked, their hands tied, and they were driven in with 
blows and cuffs. A Saracen prince who met them endeavored to 
induce them to embrace the law of Mahomet. Brother Otho 
rejected the proposition with horror and spat on the ground,^ to 
mark his contempt of such a religion ; this brought upon him a 
severe box on the ear, upon which he turned the other side, 
according to the direction of the Gospel, and said to the prince : — • 
" May God forgive thee, for thou knowest not what thou doest." * 

When they had reached the palace, the king said to them : 
''Are you then those impious persons who despise the true faith, 
those foolish persons who blaspheme the prophet sent from God.f^" 
''O king,'' they answered, "we have no contempt for the true 
faith ; on the contrary, we are ready to suffer and die in its 
defence ; but we detest your faith, and the wicked man who was 
its author.'' The king, imagining that he might perhaps gain 
them over by the love of pleasure, of riches or of honors, said to 
them, in pointing out to them some beautiful women whom 
he had brought there on purpose: ''I will give you thi^se 
women for wives, together with large sums of money, and you 
shall be highly esteemed in my kingdom, if you will embrace the 
law of Mahomet ; if not, you shall die by the sword." The con- 
fessors of the faith answered without hesitating: ''We want 
neither your women nor your money : keep those for yourself, and 
let Jesus Christ be for us. Subject us to what tortures you please, 
and take away our lives. All suffering is light to us; when we 
think of the glories of heaven." Then the king, having lost all 

* Matt. V. 39. 



2 20 >. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

hopes of overcoming them, took his scimitar, and with his own 
hand split their skulls in two : and thus was completed the 
martyrdom of the five Friars Minor, en the i6th of Januar}-, 1220. 

Their bodies, having been dragged out of the town and cut to 
pieces by the infidels, were collected by the Christians ; and the 
Infant Don Pedro took them mto Spain, from whence he sent 
them into Portugal to King Alphonso, not daring as yet to revisit 
his own countr}'. This king, accompanied by Queen Urraca and 
some of the grandees of the kingdom, came with the clerg}' to 
meet them, and had them placed with great pomp in the monas- 
ter}* of Regular Canons of the Holy Cross, at Coimbra, where they 
still are. The celebrated miracles which were achieved there in 
great numbers, as well as those which were performed in ^lorocco, 
and on the way to Europe, are recorded by contemporar}- authors, 
who have written their acts.* Pope Sixtus IV recognized them 
solemnly as martyrs, in the year 146 1, and gave permission to the 
religious to say their office. 

At the time of their death, the Princess Sancia of Portugal, was 
in the act of prayer ; they appeared to her with a bloody scimitar 
in their hands and told her that by their martyrdom they were on 
their way to heaven, where they would pray to God continually 
for her, who would thus reward the good she had done them. 

What they had foretold Queen Urraca, as to the time ot her 
death, came to pass, and her confessor, a canon regular of Santa 
Cruz, a most exemplar}' man, of great piety, was made acquainted 
with it by a ver}- manellous vision. * A short time after the bodies 
of these glorious martyrs had been placed in the church of this 
monasteiy, he saw in the middle of the night the choir filled with 
religious, who were singing ver}' melodiously, which surprised him 
exceedingly, neither knowing what brought them there, nor how 
they got in. He asked one of them, who replied : ''We are all 
Friars ]\Iinor. He whom you see at the head, is Brother 
Francis, whom you have longed so much to see : and the five 
who are more resplendent than the rest, are the martyrs of 
Morocco, who are honored in this church. Our Lord has sent 
us hither in order to pray for Queen Urraca, who is dead, and 
who had great afiection for our Order : and he has willed that 
you should see all this, because you were her confessor.'' The 
vision disappeared, and the confessor's door was immediately 
knocked at, to communicate to him that the queen was dead. 

The severe vengeance with which God visited the king of 
Morocco and his subjects f ^vas also noticed. The right hand 
with which this prince had struck the holy martyrs, and the whole 
of his right side, from the head to the feet, was paralyzed and 

* Act. SS. Jan. t Act. SS. Jan. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 221 

became perfectly dry. During three years, no rain fell in the 
whole country, and an infinity of people died by pestilence and 
famine, which scourges lasted five years, God choosing to propor- 
tion the duration of the punishment to the number of the martyrs. 

All these marvels which he operated in their favor, and the 
title of martyrs, which the Church gives them, must convince 
every faithful Christian, enlightened by the wisdom which is from 
above, that it was by a particular impulse from the Holy Ghost 
that they exposed themselves to death with so much ardor, against 
the advice of the other Christians. Human prudence is very rash 
when it takes upon itself to blame what is approved by God and 
by His Church. 

It would be difficult to express the joy which filled the heart of 
Francis, when he learned that his brethren had suffered martyrdom. 
He said to those who were wdth him : — ''It is now that I can 
rest assured that I have had five true Friars Minor ! " and he 
called down a thousand blessings on the convent of Alanquer, 
where they had prepared themselves for martyrdom, which had 
such effect, that there have been always since a great number of 
religious there, and at least one who has been distinguished for 
religious perfection. 

Brother Vital, who had been the superior of these generous 
martyrs, was delighted on hearing of their triumph, and greatly 
regretted not having shared therem. It was not in good-will that 
he was deficient ; he was only arrested by his illness, of which he 
died at Saragossa some time afterwards. 

One of the authors* of the life of St. Dominic, tells us that 
this great patriarch, who held his general chapter at the time, was 
in ecstasies of joy, when he heard that five Friars Minor had 
received the crown of martyrdom ; that he looked upon it as the 
first fruits of the plans of his friend Francis, and, at die same time, 
as a powerful incentive for his brethren to aspire to what is most 
perfect, which is to suffer for the laith of Jesus Christ. The Friars 
Preachers have profited by the example, as is it evinced by the great 
number of martyrs of their order, by whom the Church has been 
enriched. 

It was not without a special dispensation of Providence that 
the relics of the five martyrs were deposited at Coimbra, in 
the church of the Canons Regular of Santa Cruz, since our 
Lord made them subserve to the vocation of St. Anthony of 
Padua, who is one of the most striking ornaments of this 
renowned order. 

He was a native of Portugal, of a very noble family of Lisbon, 



* Ferd. de Castill. Hist Pnrdic. lib. i, cap. ^i, ajnid Waiiinp^. nd ann. 
I220, n. 51. 



22 2 S. FRAN'CIS OF ASSISI. 

born in the year 1 195,* and had received the name of Ferdinand, "j* 
in bapti.-m. The first years of his Hfe had been passed in inno- 
cence and piety ; the fear of being seduced by the world, and the 
wish to consecrate himself wholly to God, made him take the 
resolution, at the age of fifteen, to enter the Order of Regular 
Canons, in the convent of St. Vincent, at Lisbon. Two years 
afterwards, in order to avoid the frequent visits of his friends, 
which interfered \vith habits of retirement, he asked permission 
of his superior to remove to the convent of Santa Cruz, at Coimbra, 
which is of the same Order. He had some difficulty in obtaining 
this leave, because they had great esteem for him personally. He 
made use of the quiet he now enjoyed to apply himself to the study 
of sacred literature, and, as if he had foreseen what he was to do 
at a future period of his life, he not only taught himself what was 
requisite for his own sanctification, but also what was useful for 
instructing others in the paths of virtue ; he gathered also from 
the Holy Scriptures, and from the study of the fathers, what could 
sen-e to confirm the truths of faith, and to impugn error. The 
assiduity with which he pursued his studies, together with the 
excellence of his memory, and his surpassing talents, with the 
light he received from Heaven, rendered him in a short time very 
learned. 

The relics of the Rye Friars iNIinor who had been mart}Ted at 
Morocco, and which were taken to Santa Cruz, at Coimbra, at 
that time, inspired in his heart an anxious desire to die for Jesus 
Christ as they had done, and made him entertain the thought of 
becoming a member of that Order, as the school of martyrdom. 
Some old authors, J add that St. Francis, § who was then at Assisi, 
appeared to him, and induced him to embrace his Institute, fore- 
telling him what would happen to him. 

* Some authors quoied by Bollandus and by Wading, says that the father 
of S. Anthony of Padua was known by the name of Bouillon, and believe 
that he took it from the Castle of Bouillon, which Godfrey of that name who 
was king of Jerusalem has rendered so celebrated. He may originally have 
been from that county, and as he was of liigh qv.ality, have come from a 
branch of the House of Ardenne. to which the county of Bouillon, afterwards 
a duchy, belonged. The Mcjlher of the saint was Tavera, of an illustrious- 
Portuguese family, Act. SS. ut supra, pag. '96. Annot. litt.,B. Wading, ad 
anno 1220. n. 53. 

t Act. SS. Jan. die. 13. torn. 1. 

I Act. SS. supra, p. 707. xAnnot. lit. I, and Wading, ad ann. 1220, n. 54. 

^ Mariana is greatly in error when he says in his History of Spain, book 
12, chap. 8, that S. Francis, being in Portugal, S. Anthony of Padua joined 
him, and embraced his state of life ; for it is certain, that S. Francis went 
into Spain in 1213, and returned in 1214; that S. Anthony, born at Lisbon 
in 1 196, according to Wadmg, took the habit of regular Canon in I2II, and 
did not enter the Order of S. Francis, tdl the year 1220. It is a mistake 
which ought to be noticed in the Frencli translation of this history, which 
was prii.ted in 1725. with notes, torn, 2. liv, 12. n. 66. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 223 

The Friars Minor of the convent of St. Anthony of Olivares, 
near Coimbra, having come to the Canons Regular of Santa Cruz 
to quest, Ferdinand could not control his zeal, but taking them 
aside, he opened to them the wish he had to enter their community. 
They were highly pleased on hearing this, and fixed the day with 
him for putting his design into execution. In the meantime, he 
asked leave of the superior of Santa Cruz to effect the change, 
and with great difficulty obtained it. The Friars Minor returned 
on the appointed day, and gave him the habit of the Order, in the 
convent of Santa Cruz itself, and took him back with them to that 
of St. Anthony. The loss of so estimable a member was veiy 
distressing to the canons ;^* one of them who felt it more than 
the others, said to him with bitterness, as he left the house : — 
*'Go, perhaps you shall become a saint." To which Ferdinand 
answered with humility : — '' When you hear that it is so, you will 
doubtless give praise to God." He was not satisfied with having 
changed his order ; he chose likewise to change his name, in 
order by that means to disappoint those who might endeavor 
to seek for him ; and as St. Anthony was the titular saint of the 
convent, he begged the superior to call him Anthony, which is 
the name he was ever after known by, and to which was added 
of Padua, because his body reposes in that city, and is there hon- 
ored by the faithful. 

The wish to shed his blood for the faith of Jesus Christ, which 
was the source of his vocation, was constantly increasing in his 
mind and gave him no rest He solicited leave from the superiors 
to go into Africa, which was granted to him, as had been pro- 
mised him, when he entered the Order. Being come into the 
land of the Saracens, he was seized with a violent illness, which 
confined him the whole winter, and obliged him to return to 
Spain in the spring for his recovery. He embarked for this 
purpose, but the Almighty, who had destined him for the 
martyrdom of the apostolical life, and who intended by his 
means to convert an infinity of souls in Italy and France, gave 
him a passage in a contrary direction. The wind drove the 

vessel he was in to Sicily, where he landed, and from thence, in 

I 

^ Paciccus, an author quoted by Bollandus, says that the Canons regular 
of Santa Cruz, were greatly displeased that their confrere Ferdinand should 
have left them to become a Friar Minor, and that their incUgnation was so 
great, that Pnpe Gregory IX was forced to address a brief to the Prior, in 
which he warned him that, unless his religious gave over insuUing the Friars 
Minor, he sliould call upon the Bishop of Visceo to punish them. The Brief 
is dated in the seventh year of his pontificate, on the I2lh of June. Tliis 
was the year 1227, the next after tlic death of wS. Francis; S. Anthony being 
then living. This is precisely 550 yens ago, and still we are not sure tlial 
the wound is completely healed in the Order as yet. Act. vSS. supra, p. 707, 
vol. i. Annot. lit. K. 



2 24 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

the following year, we shall meet him in the general chapter at 
St. Mar}- of the Angek 

It was in the year 1220, that the Friars ^Nlinor, Angelas and 
Albert, both natives of I isa, after having staid some time at Paris 
in order to arrange the first establishment there, crossed the chan- 
nel to England, whither Francis had sent them at the general 
chapter of 1 2 19. The religious of St Dominic had already a con- 
vent at Canterbuiy, where they received the two new comers with 
great charity. King Henr}' III, who reigned at that time, setded 
them with royal magnificence at Oxford, where he held his court, 
and he conceived so great a liking for them, that he had a ledge 
built near their convent, to which he occasionally retired in order 
to converse with them. 

The reason which primarily induced him to show them so 
much consideration, was his having learnt from authentic sources 
what had occurred to them on their journey from Canterbur}' to 
Oxford.* The prior, the sacristan, and the cellarer of the 
abbey of Abingdon, who were at one of their farms, contrary to 
the usual practice of their Order, where hospitality is always given, 
as recommended by St. Benedict, refused it to these poor religious, 
and turned them from their doors, although it was at night-fall, f 
A young religious, who was in their company, seeing that 
they were about to pass the night in the wood, introduced them 
secretly into the barn, brought them some food, and recom- 
mended himself urgently to their prayers. In the night he had a 
dreadful vision of the justice with which God visited the prior and 
the two otners, but which did not fall on him, because he had 
been charitable. In the morning he went to them with a view 
of telling them what he had seen in his sleep, and found them all 
ihree dead m their beds. Struck with astonishment he left the 
farm, from whence the two Friars ]Minor had departed before day- 
break, and went to relate what had happened to the abbot of Ab- 
ingdon : they both had serious reflections on this subject, which 
ended in their entering into the Order of Friars Minor. So extra- 
ordinar}' an occurrence could not be kept secret ; many persons 
heard it ; the king was made acquainted with it, and this caused 
the lavorable reception he gave to Angelus and Albert, 

His open protection, with the sanctity of their lives, caused the 
Institute to flourish throughout the kingdom. Several doctors of 
theolog}- embraced it ; and subsequently Robert Maideston, Bishop 
of Hereford, an enlightened prelate of great distinction at court, 
obtained leave from Gregory IX to give up his bishopric to take 
the pnor habit of St. Francis, under which he became a model of 

* S. Anton, chron. part 3. lit. 24, cap. 7, 5. 2. 

t Wading, ex chron. ant. MS. ad ann. n. 1220, n. 59. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 225 

humility. In some convent schools were established, the principal 
one at Oxford, which produced many learned men.* 

Three hundred years after, King Henry VIII destroyed all 
these monuments of science and religion, which his predecessor 
Henry III had raised with so much zeal, and tyrannically treated 
the successors of those who had been received with so much 
benevolence. The strange revolution which the incontinence 
and heresy of this prince brought about in England, reduced the 
Friars Minor, and all other missionaries, to the necessity of 
running greater risks in endeavoring to maintain the remnant of 
faith, than what they have to incur amongst the infidels. 

We suppress all comment on so deplorable a subject, and we 
are satisfied with offering up our prayers to the Almighty f that 

* Wadin^^ says, on the authority of some English writers, in the year 1220, 
n. 62, that Robert Grossetete est'abhshed the school of the Friars Minor at 
Oxford; and that,beinT^ Bishop of Lincoln, he continued to show them much 
favor, wrote in commendation of the Order, labored with them in the eluci- 
dation of the Scriptures, and left them by his will his library. But if they 
profited by his learning and his good will, they did not imitate him in his 
bitten invectives against the Sovereign 1 on tiffs. We do not understand why 
the author of the Histoire Ecclesiastique,who censures these dreadful effusions, 
has nevertheless copied his scandal ius expressions, and says that he died in 
the odor of sanctity, that it was even said that he had worked miracles at his 
death. Tom. 1 7, liv. 83, n. 45. The Ecclesiastical History has no need of such 
documents, nor of such saints, nor of such miracles, which were never ac- 
knowledged by the Church. Moreover, the author of whom we speak, only 
quotes in support of what he says, Mathew Paris, who has only beatified the 
Bishop of Lincoln because of the aversion they both had for the Popes, and 
who, on other occasions, gives a terrific account of this very prelate. To 
form a correct opinion of Robert Grossetete, Bishop of Lincoln, it is necessary 
to read the second letter of the Bishop of N., printed in 1719. p. 107. 

t God forbid that, under the pretext of facilitatmg the reunion of the 
English to the Catholic Church, we should adopt the opinions of an author 
who some years ago strove to prove, against the opinion of the Church, that 
they have a succession of Bishops validly consecrated ; and who, in order to 
justify them, published some manifest errors as to the sacrifice of the Mass, 
and the real presence, and the priesthood, and the forms of the Sacraments, 
and the character imprinted by them on the rites and ceremonies of the 
Church, on the authority and primncy of the Pope, and other important 
points. The Cardinal de Noailles, Archbishop of Paris, by his mandement 
of the i8th of August, 1727, condemns the writings of this author, as con- 
taining false, erroneous, scandalous doctrines, injurious to the Church and to 
the Holy See, favoring schism and heresy, and even contrary on many 
points to the Catholic doctrine ; and he forbids, on pain prescribed by the 
laws, his subjects from reading these works. The cardinals, archbishops, and 
bishops, assembled in extraordinary meeting at Paris, twenty in number, 
censured them on the 22d August, 1727, as follows : ** Censure of the books 
of Brother Peter Erancis LeCourayer, Canon regular of S. Genevieve, entitled, 
Dissertation on the validity of the English Ordinations, &c. — Defence of the 
Dissertation on the validity of the English Ordinations, &c." They declare 
all the propositions inserted in the censure respectively false, rash, captious, 
ill-sounding, scandalous, injurious to the Church and to the Holy See, fiivoring 
schism and he.esy, erroneous, and already condemned by the Council 01 



2 26 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

« 

He would deign to cast the eyes of His mercy upon those islands, 
which formerly gave so many saints to the Church ; that by His 
grace, the talent and learning which are found there, may be 
employed in searching for the truth and appreciating that truth 
which the illustrious Pope St. Gregory had taught, there in the 
sixth century ; that these talents may be no longer employed in 
the defence of a variety of sects, equally at variance with the 
doctrines of antiquity, condemned by the principles of the Christian 
religion, and by the rules of right reasoning ; and^that it shall no 
longer be said that men of learning make use of the lights they 
have received and cultivated, to countenance every description of 
falsehood ; so that, as St. Leo said of idolatrous Rome,* dictating 
to almost all other nations, she herself was the slave of all their 
errors. 

Some of the French bishops entertained scruples relative to the 
institution of the Friars Minor ; they thought their mode of life 
was not approved of, and thinking unfavorably of those who 
followed it, they behaved harshly in their regard ; Pope Honorius, 
being made acquainted with this, addressed a Brief to all the pre- 
lates of that kingdom, and in particular f to the archbishop of 
Sens, and to the bishop of Paris : 

"Honorius, Bishop, the servant of the servants of God, to our 
venerable brethren the archbishops and bishops, and to our dear 
sons the abbots, priors, and other ecclesiastical superiors of the 
kingdom of France, health and apostolical benediction. 

''We remember to have written to you before in favor of our 
dear sons, the brethren of the Order of Friars i\Iinor, in order 
that, for the love of God, you should have consideration for them. 
Nevertheless, we have heard that some of you will not suffer them 
in your dioceses, having scruples as to the approbation of the 
Order ; although they have not found anything in them calculated 
to create suspicion, as we have been assured by persons fully 
worthy of credit ; and that, moreover, our letters of recommenda- 
tion ought to have sufficed to have prevented any ill opinion to 
have been formed against them. We desire, therefore, that you 
may know that we look upon the Order of Friars Minor as one 
of those which are approved of, and w^e acknowledge them to be 
Catholic and pious men. For which reason we have thought 

Trent, and heretical. At Paris, printed by Widow Mazieres, and J. B. 
Garnier, printers to the Queen. S. Jacques Street, at t'ne sign ot Providence. 
In consequence of this censure of the bishops, whose opinion had been 
solicited by the king, his majesty caused the two works to be suppressed, 
by decree of the Council of State of the 7th Sept., 1727. 

* S. Leon in Nat. Apost. serm. i. 

t Wading says, that these two Briefs, addressed to the Archbishop of Sens, 
and to the Bishop of Paris, are in the original in the archives of the great 
Convent of the Observance at Paiis. Ad. ann. 1220, n 56. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISl. 227 

proper to warn and exhort you by the present letters, to receive 
the aforesaid brethren in your dioceses, as being truly faithful 
and religious persons, and to show them particular attention, out 
of the respect you have for God and for us. who recommend them 
to you. Given at Viterbo, the 4th of the Calends of June, in the 
fourth year of our Pontificate/' This was the 29th of May 1220. 

Francis left the convent of Saint Mary of the Angels, in the 
beginning of the year 1221, in order to visit some of his other 
convents. Peter of Catania, the vicar-general, found some opposi- 
tion to his government. Although he was naturally of a mild 
disposition, he had, nevertheless, sufficient firmness to chide those 
who were not regular in their conduct, and this was not agreeable 
to all ; ihose who were in fault declared their opposition to him, 
and there were even some who resisted his orders, and others who 
censured him. This, is what superiors of all kinds have to expect 
who do not resemble the high priest Heli,"^ whom the spirit of 
indifference, the blamable love of ease, and the human wish for 
popularity, do not render so weak as to suffer those evils which it 
is their duty to check and put a stop to, and to neglect the good 
which it behooves them to support. 

The vicar-general, grieved and vexed by the obstacles thrown in 
his way, wrote to Francis on the subject, and received the follow- 
ing reply : — 

"To my reverend father in Jesus Christ, Brother Peter, minister 
general. Brother Francis sends greeting : — 

" May the Lord be your defence, and may He preserve you in 
His holy charity. My dear brother, I recommend you to hav.^ 
great patience in all your conduct, so that if any one of your 
brethren, or any one else, whoever he may be, should happen to 
thwart you, or should even venture to strike you, you should take 
all this as so much grace bestowed upon you ; be always sincerely 
in this disposition, and never sweive from it. Love those who 
behave in this manner to you, and do not expect any change on 
their parts, unless in so far as it shall please God to do you the 
favor to cause them to mend ; this is what you should propose to 
yourself m loving them. The mark by which I shall know that 
you love God, and that you have an affection for me, who am 
His servant and yours, is, that no one of our brethren, whatever 
faults he may have committed, shall leave you without having fcl 
the effects of your mercy ; should he not ask it of you, be beibre- 
hand with him, and ask him if he wishes for it ; -dud if, after 
having refused it, he comes constantly before you, show him, in 
order to oring him back to a proper way of thinking, more aifectiou 
than you would even show to irie. Have always compassion for 



I Kc^'. caj). 11. 24 and 29. cap. 111, 13. 



2 28 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

such as are in this state ; and let the guardians* know, when you 
have an opportunity, that it is your decided intention to act up to 
this. Let all the brethren, who may be cognizant of the fault of 
one of them, abstain from reproaching him with it, and let them 
forbear from making it known ; but, on the contrary, let them 
entertain feelings of compassion for him, and keep the thing 
secret. It is not such as are in health who need a physician, but 
they who are ill.f If one of the brethren, by the temptation of 
the evil one, should unhappily fall into a mortal sin, let him be ob- 
liged by virtue of obedience to address himself to the guardian, who 
will also be obliged by obedience to send him to the custos,;}; and 
let the custos take care to provide for the conscience of the guilty, 
as he could wish his own to be taken care of And let it not be 
permitted to any of the custodes to enjoin him any other penance 
than this: — ' Go and henceforth sin no more.' § Do as I direct you/' 
When St. Francis does not permit the superiors to enjoin any 
other penance for a mortal sin than this : — "Go, and henceforth 
sin no more ;" we see clearly that he only speaks of regular and 
public penances, || such as would be given for a secret fault, and 
in no way of those which are enjoined, \nforo conscientm, for the 
expiation of the sin, or for the prevention of relapse. For just 
before, he obliges the custos, by obedience, to whom one of the 
brethren guilty of mortal sin shall have been sent, to provide for 
the conscience of that religious as he would his own to be provided 



* The Superiors of the houses of the Order of S. Francis, are called Guar- 
dians, because the humility of the holy Patriarch did not choose that they 
should be called Priors. Regul. S. P'rancis, cap. 6. Guardian means, as 
does custos, a man employed to take care, lo preserve, to watch, to look 
after. It is is derived from Guardianus, or Gardianus, Guaidium, Guardin, 
Guardia, terms of low Latin, taken from the German, warden, which has the 
same signification. Diet. Etymologique de Menage. 

t Matt, ix, 12. 

X The Custos signifies the Provincial. S. Bonaventure remarks that the 
name of custos was givej by S. Francis to the General, the Provincials, and 
even to the Guardian, to mark the duty of the office, and not the title of the 
grades ; and when he says in tne 6th chapter of the rule, and elsewhere, 
Ministri et Custodes, it is as if he said the ministers who are to watch and 
be careful. " Ministerium dicit humilitatem. Cust"dia vigilantiam insinuat 
pastoralem." Now. as the holy Doctor was well versed in the form of the 
government of ihe Order, we must acknowledge that, in tlie beginning, 
there were none of these Custodes, who have since been established in the 
pro\inces v/hich are extensive, to have cliarge of a certain number of con- 
vents, under the direction of the Provincial. There was also a Custos of the 
Custodes, who was elected by the Chapter of the province, to go in the 
capacity of a Discreet to the General Chapter, with the Provincial; and this 
election is still observed even in those provinces where there are no Cus- 
todes any longer. S lionav. Expo.-,, in Reg. cap. 4 and ^. 

$ I John, vhi, II. 

II Wading did not think of that, when he ptit in his 15th note upon this 
letter: '' Cum grano salis est intelligendnm." 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 229 

for. Now, the custos, in such a case, could not think it reason- 
able, if a penance at once satisfactory and preservative were not 
imposed on him. For public faults the holy Founder no. doubt 
intended that they should be publicly punished, since he gave the 
example on several occasions, as we shall see. If in this letter he 
recommends mildnes'J and clemency rather than justice and 
severity, it is because he adopted the sentiments of our blessed 
Saviour, whose mildness to sinners who were not proud nor 
obstinate, as the Pharisees, was so great ; it was because he knew 
what St. Paul says, ''that advice must be given to our brethren in 
the spirit of meekness ; reprove, entreat, rebuke, with all patience 
and doctrine ;'' * finally, because writing to the vicar-general, 
who was grieved by the forwardness of some of the brethren, 
and fearing lest some human considerations might be mixed 
up with his zeal, he had the intention and wish merely to 
mollify and soften him ; and, indeed, every one who is in place is 
naturally inclined to be harsh to those who counteract his 
authority, and therefore on this head required rather to be curbed 
than urged on. 

Peter of Catania acted entirely upon the terms of the letter of 
his Patriarch ; but he did not long continue in the post of vicar- 
general. f Wading believes that he died in this year, 1221, on 
the loth of March, and he is followed in this opinion by Father 
Artus du Moutier, a Franciscan, by BoUandus, and by Fleury, 
who thought the date certain because it was grounded on the 
epitaph on the tomb of Peter of Catania, in the church of St. 
Mary of the Angels, but what we have brought forward in the 
note J which is below, clearly shows that Peter died on the 2d of 
March, 1224. Now, as in the general chapter held in this year, 
1 22 1, at Whitsuntide, on the 30th of May, another vicar-general 
was appointed, who certainly held that office in the year 1223, as 
we shall see ; and, moreover, it docs not seem likely that so holy 

* I Galat. vi. 1.2 Timothy, iv, 2. 

t Artus a Monast. Mart. Fr. 10 Martii, Act, SS. Bolland. Tom. 2. Mart, 
die 10 inter Praetermiss. Hist. Keel. torn. 16, lib. 78 n. 43. 

^ Oetaviiis. Bishop of Assi.si, relaces and notiees the figures on the 
epitaph, which mirk the yenr and the day of the death of Pet r of Catania, 
and show that Wading has been mistaken in them. It is in his book en- 
titled, Lumi Serafici di Porliuncula, from which we have already taken 
(juotalions. These are his own words : " Non posso di meno di notare u \ 
grave fallo di Cronoloi^ia nelP annalista Francescano Luca Vadingo. per altiv) 
accuratissimo cd eruditissimo Egli pone la morte di Fra Pieio Catania nel 
1221, alii 10, di Marzo; e poi nel 1223, pone che ando a Roma con 8. 
P'rancesco. La cagion dedo sbaglio si ^ perch6 in fatti gli antichi monumen- 
ti lo dicono compagno di questa andata; per I'altra ]v^rte poi la pietra 
del monumento suo in Portiuncula, dove anche oggi si vede. ha 1' inscrizionne 
equivoca. In quella sta cosi : MC(^XX. IVII. d. Martii. I /ha cosi nitesa 
il Vadingo: MCC.'XXl. e poi VI. id. come a dire, millcsimo duc.cntosimo vi- 



230 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

a man as Peter of Catania should have been deposed by St. 
Francis, besides which no author has^ spoken of it. We cannot 
therefore avoid concluding that he resigned his place out of hu- 
mility, and to be freed from a burden that saintly persons often 
find too much for them. 

Francis, having received the resignation of his vicar-general, on 
his return from his visitations, deferred the choice of his successor 
till the assembly of the chapter which was held on Whitsunday. 
He consulted God on the election, who made known to him by 
revelation that Brother Elias should be restored ; he communi- 
cated this to his companions, and when the chapter met, he named 
Elias vicar-general. 

We may feel assured that after having deposed him for laxness, 
he would not again have placed him at the head of his Order, 
had he not been certain that God himself had ordered it. As 
soon as the saints are made aware of the will of God, they have 
no thought but of obeying, whether it be that they know His 
reasons, or that they be hidden from them. Thus, three hundred 

gesimo primo, sexto idus Martii. ma in realta deve leggersi cosi, MCCXXIV, 
poi ii, d. ciod a dire : millesimo ducentesimo vigesimo quarto, secunda 
die Martii." 

Father Megrigny a Capuchin, and afterwards Bishop of Grasse, whose 
memory is revered in the Church for his zeal against the reformers, and for 
his eminent virtues, bears witness to the correctness of the figures taken by 
Octavius ; according to what Father Assermet, of the great convent of 
the Observatines, Dr. of the Sorbonne, relates in his critical anl anti- 
critical History of the Indulgence of the Portiuncula, printed a Lyons, m 
1 719. The Bishop of Grasse passing by there (the Convent of St. M:iry of 
the Angels near Assisi), on his return from the General Chapter, told me 
that the epitaph was written as the Bishop of Assisi points out in his Lumi 
Seraphici. Moreover, no one will be rash enough to call in question tlie 
truth of a fact publicly attested by a bishop, who saw it with his own ey-s 
in his diocese, where every one may see it as he did. 

It is clear that the numbers on the epitaph have been ill-placed by the 
carver, MCCXX. IVII d. xMartii. Wading has placed them thus : MCCXXL 
VI. Id, Martii, and finds them to stand for, millesimo ducentisimo vigesimo 
primo. sexto idus Mariii. The bisho;* of Assisi arranges them thus : mi'le- 
simo ducentesimo vigesimo quarto secunda die Martii We believe that no 
one will hesitate in agreeing with the bishop. His opinion has been fol- 
lowed by Father Mathias Grouwels, a Franciscan professor of theol >gy at 
Louvain in his Critical History of the InJulgence of Portiuncula, written in 
Latin, and printed at Antwerp, in 1726, by Verdussen, of which wcrk we 
shall speak in our remarks on this indulgence. But what must fix the death 
of Peter of Catania, in the year 1224, and not in 1221, is that there exist 
authentic records which prove that he was alive in 1223. Wading saw these, 
and quotes them in the year 1223, with the name of Peter of Catania, so 
that by an extraordinary anachronism, he represents him as alive in 1223, 
him whom he had reported as dead in 1 22 1, and whose death he told 
us was attended with peculiar circumstances. This is one of those faults 
which are fallen into by those who are neither deficient in extent nor in ex- 
actness generally, and which do not sho^v any intention to mislead the 
reader. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 23 1 

years before St. Francis, St. Stephen, the third abbot of Citeaux,* 
did not fail sending Arnaud to Morimond to be its first abbot, 
although he knew by divine inspiration, that this post would be 
prejudicial to him, and that it would not turn out w^ell : it was 
enough for him that it was God's will that he should be so sent. 
Thus we find in Holy Writ that Eliseus, by God's order to Elias, 
consecrated Hazael king of Syria, who, he foresaw would bring 
such great evils on the people of God, that the foresight moved 
him to tears. Human prudence must not censure in the saints 
vv'hat they have only done from supernatural views, against their 
own impressions, and their own inclinations. In these extraor- 
dinary cases we must only adore the counsels of divine wisdom, 
without endeavoring to penetrate them : acknowledge, as Tobias 
did,f that all His ways are ways of mercy, truth, and justice ; and 
say With one of the prophets : *'Thy loss comes from thyself "J 

At the chapter Francis sat at the feet of Elias and, as his infirm- 
ities prevented him from making himself heard, it was through 
Elias that he proposed all that he wished to communicate to the 
assembly. Towards the close he pulled him by the tunic and 
told him in a low tone of voice his intention of sending some of 
the brethren into parts of Upper Germany, into which they had 
not yet penetrated. Elias laid the affair before the brethren in 
the following terms : '' My brethren, this is what the Brother says" 
(for thus they designated Francis, as a mark of great respect). 
^' There is a part of Germany, the inhabitants of which are Chris- 
tians and devout ; they go, as you know, through our country 
during the heats with long staves and great jack-boots, singing the 
praises of God and His saints, and thus visit the places of devotion. 
1 sent some of our brethren into their land, who returned often 
having been sorely ill-treated. For this reason, I compel no one 
to go thither, but if there are any sufficiently zealous for the glory 
of God and the salvation of souls, to undertake this journey I 
promise him the same merit as is attached to obedience, and even 
more than if he made a voyage over the sea." 

About ninety offered themselves for the mission which they 
considered as an opportunity for suffering martyrdom. The chief 
was named with the title of provincial minister of Germany, and 
Brother Cocsar, a German, was selected for that office ; he was an 
ecclesiastic of Spire, who had been drawn into the Order by the 
preaching of Brother Elias, § some time before, he himself having 

* Maiuiq. Ann. Cisterc. ad ann. 1215, Cap. 3, n. 3. Essai de I'Histoire 
de rOrdre de Citeaux, torn, i, p. 206. 3 Reg, 19, 15 and 16, 4 Reg, S, 11, 
and 22. 

t Fab, 3. 2. I Osee, 13, 9. 

^ Although he was relaxed and liad some vanity, God nevertheless made 
use of him for the salvation of souls, which proves that His word operates 



232 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

the character of a good preacher. He had permission to select 
those whom he desired to take with him from among those who 
had volunteered : however, he only chose twenty-seven, twelve of 
whom were priests, and fifteen lay-brethren, among whom there 
were some Germans, and some Hungarians, excellent preachers. 
He remained nearly three months in the valley of Spoleto, with 
leav3 from Francis, and sent his companions into Lombardy to 
prepare themselves for the great work they were about to under- 
take ; then they set forth dividing themselves into small groups of 
three and four. We shall further on give the details of their 
journev, and of their labois and success. 

In the choice which Caesar made of those whom he thought 
adapted to the German mission, something occurred which at first 
was amusing, but which turned out very serious and very useful. 
Some one having suggested to him to take one of the brethren 
named Jourdain, he went to him and said : — 'S\nd you Brother 
Jourdain, you will come with us ? " ' ' ]\Ie ? " replied he, "I am not 
one of yours ; if I rose up, it was not with any intention of going 
with you, it was to embrace those who w^ere about to go into 
Germany, and who, I am certain, will all be martyred.'' He was 
so apprehensive that the Germans by their cruelty, and the heretics 
of Lombardy by their artifices, would be the causes of his losing 
his faith, that he daily prayed to God for the favor of being kept 
away from the one and from the other. 

Caesar, continuing to urge him to go with him, and Jourdain 
continuing to refuse, they w^ent to the vicar general, who, after 
having been informed how the matter stood, said to Jourdain : — 
"^ly brother, I command )ou, on your holy obedience, to decide 
absolutely upon going into Germany or not to go.'' This order 
put his conscience in a dilemma : if he should not go, he feared 
lis reproach lor hiving followed his own will, and did not like to 
lose a glorious crown ; and, on the other hand, he could not deter- 
mine on going, thinking the Germans so cruel as he had been 
led to believe. In order to come to a conclusion, he consulted 
one of*the religious who had greatly suffered in the first mission, 
and had been stripped in Hungary no less than fifteen times, who 
said to him : — "Go to Brother Elias, and tell him that you are 
neither willing to go into Germany nor to stay here, but that you 
will do whatsoever he shall desire you to do. You will hardly 
have addressed him, that your difficulties will be done away." He 
fo. lowed this advice, and Elias ordered him by the obligation of 
obedience to accompany Brother Caesar into Germany. He went 
and labored assiduously, and more than any of the others, to 

independent of the disposition of those who announce it, in the hearts of 
such auditors as are prepared to attend to it. 



' S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 233 

extend the order throughout the country. His obedience quieted 
his mind, which his own choice would have failed to procure him, 
for a man is never more satisfied with himself than when he obeys. 
''Experience shows/' says St. Bernard, ''that the yoke of obedi- 
ence is light, and that self-will is oppressive.* 

Anthony had heard in Sicily that the chapter was to assemble 
at St. Mary of the Angels, and although he was still in a state of 
weakness, he had come to it with Philippinus, a young lay bro- 
ther of Castile. When the chapter was over, the brethren were 
sent back to their convents by the vicar general, but no one asked 
to have Anthony, because no one knew him, and he appeared so 
feeble, that he did not seem fit for work. He offered himself 
therefore to Brother Gratian, who was provincial of Bologna, or of 
Romagna, whom he begged to take him, to instruct him in the 
rules of regular discipline, making no mention of his studies, or 
of any talent he had, and showing no other desire than to know 
and love the crucified Jesus. Gratian delighted with these his 
sentiments, asked to have him, and took him with him into his 
province, with Philippinus, who was sent to Citta di Castello, and 
from thence to Columbario, in Tuscany, where he died a holy 
death. Anthony, who only wished for solitude, had leave from 
the provincial to live at the hermitage of Mount St. Paul, near 
Bologna, where he wished to have a cell cut in the rock, which 
was separated from all the others, which the brother who had cut 
it out for himself ceded to him. There he lived in as much soli- 
tude as obedience allowed him, devoting himself to contemplation, 
fasting on bread and water, and practising such other austerities, 
as to be thereby so weakened, that, according to the relation of 
his brethren, he could hardly stand when he came to them. 
Although he was full of zeal, he did not dare attempt to preach ; 
the martyrdom which he had escaped in Africa had rendered him 
timid ; he abandoned himself to Divine Providence, without any 
other anxiety than that of exciting himself to the more perfect love 
of God, and strengthening himself in the hope of enjoying the 
good things of Heaven, and resisting the attacks of the tempter, 
who strove to dissuade him from the holy exercise of prayer. 
Living thus in great simplicity among his unpretending brethren, 
he disguised under a plain exterior the vast lights he received 
from Heaven ; but by that humility he deserved to be brought 
forward for the accomplishment of the designs of Providence, who 
generally prepares those in secret, whom he destines to splendid 
ministrations, and who brought forward this His servant, as will 
be hereafter shown. 

* De Precept, et Disp., cap. 10. De Hilic^, Deo. cap. 13. 



THE LIFE 

OF 

SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



BOOK IV. 



After the chapter, Francis, notwithstanding the bad state of 
his health, actuated by his zeal, undertook to preach repentance 
in the towns adjacent to Assisi, where he dilated, in forcible 
language, on vice and virtue, and the sufferings and happiness of 
a future life. The inhabitants of Canaria * were so moved by his 
preaching, that they followed him in crowds, forsaking their usual 
occupations. Many also, from the neighboring villages, joined 
them, and all together solicited him to teach them how to profit 
by his instructions. 

Many married men were desirous of separating themselves from 
their wives, in order to embrace the religious state, and many 
married women were anxious to shut themselves up in cloisters; 
but the holy Patriarch, not wishing to break up well-assorted 
marriages, nor to depopulate the countrv, advised them to serve 
God in their own houses, and promised to give them a rule by 
which they might progress in virtue and live as religious, 
without practising the austerities of that state of life. 

He was under the necessity of repeatino: the same injunctions 
in several towns in Tuscany, particularly in Florence, where 



*^FatWc Helyot, in the History of Religious Orders, torn. 7, chap. 29. 
page 215, says that Saint Franc s having learnt, by a revelation made to 
Saint Clare and her brother Silvester, that God had called him to labor for 
the salvation of souls, came with brothers Mass^ and Angeliis of Rieti to the 
small town of Canaria, where he established the Third Order. This is a 
great mistake, made in following other autliors. The Saint then went to 
Revagna and this wns in 1212. It was only in 1221, that he went to Canaria. 
and that the Third Order was instituted at Poggihonzi. All this is clearly 
laid down in the annnls of Wading, and has been followed l\y the author of 
*' Annales Laiines du Tiers Ordre I'e In PiMiilence." printed at Paris by Rob. 
Chevillon, in 1686. 



236 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

similar views prevailed, and where they had already commenced 
building a monastery for females, who were desirous of renounc- 
ing the world. While he was yet ruminating on the mode of life 
he should prescribe for them, he assembled them all, and formed 
them into two congregations : the one of men, and the other of 
women ; and having given each of them a president, they gave 
themselves separately up to exercises of piety and practices of 
mercy, with so much fervor, that a contemporary author compares 
them to the Christians whom Tertullian so eloquently eulogizes. 
With the alms which the two congregations collected, they built a 
hospital for the sick and aged, on the outskirts of the town, where 
all the virtues of charity were assiduously exercised ; an establish- 
ment which is extant at this day. * St. Antoninus, when 
archbishop of Florence, removed these pious assemblies to a 
locality near the Church of St. ^Martin, for the convenience of the 
poor. The vicinity of the church and their good works pro- 
cured for them the name of the ' ' Good ]\Ien of St. Martin ;'' and 
they were afterwards called the '' Penitents of St. Francis," 
because they followed the rule of the Third Order of Penance, 
which the Saint instituted. 

This zealous preacher, having gone from Florence to Gagiano, 
near Poggibonzi, in Tuscany, met a shop-keeper of his acquamt- 
ance, whose name was Lucchesio, who had been very avaricious, 
and an enthusiastic partisan of the faction of the Gueiphs,f but 
who, having been converted a few months before, now lived a very 
Christian-like life, gave away great sums in alms, attended the 
sick in hospitals, received strangers hospitably into his house, and 
endeavored to instil similar sentiments into Bonadonna, his wife. 
They had already asked Francis to put them in a way of sanctifying 
their lives, which should be suitable to their position ; and the 
holy man had given them this answer : ' * I have been thinking 
of late of instituting a Third Order, in which married persons 
might serve God perfectly : and I think you could not do better 
than to enter it.'' After having given the subject serious con- 
sideration, Lucchesio and his wife entreated him to admit them 
into this new Order. He made them assume a modest and 
simple dress, of a grey color, wiih a cord with several knots in it 
for a girdle, and he prescribed them verbally certain pious exer- 
cises, which they were to follow until such time as he should have 
composed the rule. 

* Marian. Flor. Chron. c. 20. — Tert. Apol. cap. 38 et 39. 

t This shows thar the Guelphs and Ghibeilines had their partisans in Italy 
before the year 122S. although they only broke out in that year, according to 
the writers quoted by Spond, ad ann. 1228. n. 4. He notices all that is mo-t 
])robable as to the origin of the names of those two factions, which, after all, 
leaves the question in great uncertaintv. See nlso ^' Histoire de la Decadence 
de TEnipire,'' liv. 5. pp. 435 tt 494. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISE. 237 

This was the beginning of the Third Order of St. Francis, which 
many persons in the environs of Poggibonzi embraced, and which 
was soon estabUshed in Florence by the congregation of men and 
women of which we have just spoken. The following year, at 
latest, the Founder composed "^ a rule for this Order, w^hich he 
called the Order of the Brethren of Penance, in which the sisters 
were comprised, which was also called the Third Order, or the 
Order of Tertiaries, as relative to the two older Orders : the Order 
of Friars Minors, which is the first, and that of the Poor Clares, 
which is the second. This rule was subsequently confirmed by 
Pope Nicholas IV, with some changes, which he considered 
advisable as well in regard to the times as to the Order itself 

The holy Patriarch nianifests therein not only the zeal which 
animated him in all that concerned the purity of the faith, but 
also the prudence which guided all his actions. He requires that 
all those who apply for admission into the Order shall be carefully 
examined in the Catholic faith, and their submission to the 
authority of the Church, and he directs that they shall only be 
received after having made profession of all the orthodox truths ; 
and that great care shall be taken not to admit any heretic, nor 
any one suspected of heresy ; and should any such be detected 
after having been admitted, he insists on their being immediately 
informed against. He, likewise, directs that their previous con- 
duct may be inquired into, to ascertain whether any notorious 
crimes are imputed to them, or whether their morals are irre- 
proachable, and he desires that they be warned to restore what 
they have which belongs to any other person ; and he forbids 
receiving any married female f into the Order without the consent 
of her husband. 



* Some persons have thought that the Rule of the Third Order was com- 
posed by Pope Nicholas IV; but Wading proves clearly that Saint Francis 
is the author of it, and St. Bonaventure notices it also in the 4th chap.er of 
his Legend. Nicholas IV, who confirmed it in 1289. made such alterations 
in it as he thought proper, as has been said, and as he himself declares in his 
Bull '' Unigenitus," as given by Ant. de Sillis, "Lib. de O.ig, et Progres. 
Tert. Ord." tom. 2. p, 7. Wading, in " Regul. Tertiar. Argum." 

t We cannot understand why Father Helyot, in making the analysis of the 
Third Order, in the " History of Religious Orders," toni. 7, ch. 29. p. 217, 
says that it is necessary to inquire whether the person who wishes to enter it, 
is not engaged in the bonds of matrimony, which is an obstacle to his recep- 
tion, unless he has his wife's consent, and, reriprocnlly, the wife that of her 
husband. These two articles are not in the Rule of the Third Order. 1. St. 
P^rancis was careful not to say that the bonds of matrimony were an obstacle 
to the reception, since it was to married persons that he first prv)posed enter- 
ing the Order; and since St. Bonaventura says that he instituted it f)r clerks, 
laymen, for virgins, and for married persons of eitner sex. 2. He f ubids 
receiving married women without the consent of their husbands, but he does 
not require the consent of the wives; for he knew very well that, in the Old 
Law, if a wife had made a vow, she was not obliged to kee]-» it, if her husbanil 



2^b S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

The profession consists in a promise to ke^p all God's command- 
ments, and to perform such penances as the visitor shall enjoin for 
faults committed in breach of the practices required by the rule. 
The habit is similar to what was given to Lucchesio and his wife ; 
but so that this may be dispensed with, according to the state of 
life of the persons, and the customs of the country in which they 
may be. The spiritual exercises laid down in the rule, have 
nothing in them which can interfere with the different stations of 
persons living in the world. Days of fasting and abstinence are 
prescribed, but modified prudently for the infirm, for pregnant 
women, for travellers, and for laboring people ; and it is clearly ex- 
plained that these observances are not obligator}^ under pain of sin, 
and that they only bind the transgressor to perform the penance 
imposed on him, unless the transgression has at the same time 
contravened any law of God, or com-nandment of the Church. 

St Francis, moreover, strenuously recommends to the brethren 
and sisters, to avoid all words tending to swearing or imprecation, 
the theatre, dancing, and all profane meetings ; to undertake no 
law-suits, and to live in fraternal union ; to take great care of the 
sick of the Order, to bur}' the dead, and to pray for them. 

He adds to this, an article which is deserving of peculiar notice ; 
it is, that all persons who enter the Order and have property over 
which they have the disposal, shall make their wills* within three 
months after their profession, lest they should die intestate. We 
see that his intention was to make them think on death, and to 
have their minds free for meditating on the important affair of their 
salvation, and to prevent those dissentions which frequently occur 
after the death of such as have not regulated their temporal affairs, 
before being called away. Wills which are made during a last 
illness are frequently exposed to deceit and fraud. They are 
never better made than when executed while the testator is in good 
health,f in possession of all his faculties. 

disapproved of it; upon which St. Augustine says that his quality of chief 
gives him an authority which the wife has not, over exercises of piety 
and other things. It is not true, therefore, that a husband requires the con- 
sent of his wife for making profession of the Tiiird Order instituted by St. 
Francis. '* Num. xxx.. 12 et 13." — '*^. August. Eo. ad Ecdic. 272, Edit. 
Bened." 

* He does not speak of wills written entirely in the testator's own hand, 
because he was in a country of written law. where they are not valid. But 
in France they are so, as being less likely to have been suggested, and more 
likely to mark plainly the testator's wish. 

t In order to make one's will properly, it is desirable to consider the state 
in which we shall be at the time of death; to set aside all prejudices, all 
anger, to dispose conscientiously of one's effects, with equity, with charity, 
after having consulted God and one of His ministers, and even a man con- 
versant with the law and customs of the country, to avoid those errors which 
give rise to the annulling of wills. It is verv unusual to see a well-made 
will. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 239 

By the institution of the Third Order, Francis proposes to him- 
self^ to reanimate the fervor of the faithful, to induce all the world, 
those in orders, laics, married persons of either sex, and such as 
were living in'a state. of celibacy, to a stricter observance of God's 
commandments, to live a more Christian and Catholic life, and 
to add the practice of virtues to the duties of civil life. His views 
met with astonishing success ; the Order was established, and 
spread with the greatest rapidity through all conditions f of life. 
Cardinals, bishops, emperors, empresses, kings, queens, considered 
themselves honored in being admitted into it, and it has given to 
the Church an infinite number of saints and blessed of either sex, 
who are publicly revered with her sanction. Wading says, that in 
his day, (that is in 1623,) there were at the court of .Madrid more 
than sixty lords who belonged to the Third Order ; and Cardinal 
Trejo, who had joined it, wrote to him in these terms on the sub- 
ject of the works of St. Francis, which that author was about to 
give to the public with learned notes. 

''You praise me with some surprise, that wearing the purple of 
Cardinal, I should have taken the habit and made solemn profes- 
sion to adhere to the rules of the Third Order of St. Francis. 
Could I do less than devote myself wholly to his Order, I, who 
owe to him all that I have, and all that I am ? Does not the 
cord of St. Francis deserve to gird even royal purple ? St. Louis 

* The Rule of the Third Order, with explanations which mark its spirit 
and its object, has been given to the public by several of the children of St. 
Francis ; amongst whom it is right to distinguish Father Claudius Frassen, 
of the great convent of the Observanlines of Paris, Doctor of the Sorbonne, 
whose learned and pious works and rare virtues have rendered his memory 
precious to the Order of Friars Minors, and to the whole Church. The 
best editions of the Rule of the Third Order which he has explained, are 
those which have been printed by Ed. Couterot, at the '^Bon Pasteur;" 
there are some things in the later editions which are not to my taste. Denys 
the Carthusian has explained this Rule, also, with much light and piety, such 
as are found in all his other works. Father Thomassin, Priest of the Oratory, 
says that the Third Order of St. Dominic, the Rule of which was confirmed 
by Pope Innocent VI l, in the year 1405, that of the Servites, and that of the 
ThirJ Order of St. Francis de Paul, are all similar to that of St. Fiancis. 
^'Discipline de I'Eglise." Part 4, liv. i, ch. 62, n. 13. Ed. Franjaise. 1679. 

t The Third Order spread so rapidly, that twenty years after its institution 
Peter des Vignes, Chancellor and favorite of the Emperor Frederic II, wrote 
to the Prince to say that the Friars Minors had established t\\ o societies, one 
of each sex, and that there was hardly any one who had not his or her name 
in it. This was to justify the irritation of his master who was incensed 
against the Friars Minors, because, according to the intention of their Holy 
Patriarch, they supported the interests of the Holy See, whose hitter enemy 
he was. This Prince excited a violent persecution against the Third Ortler, 
which lasted till his death, in 1250, as St. Rose of Viterbo had foretold, who 
was herself of that Order, and whom the officers of the emperor sent with 
her wliole family into exile, for having converted several heretics, and recon- 
ciled many schismatics to the obedience of the Holy See, by her reasoning. 
Petr. a Vineis, Epist., lib. i, Epis. 37. Wading, ad ann. 1252, n. 8. 



240 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

king of France, St. Elizabeth queen of Hungary, wore it, as well 
as many other sovereigns and princesses. In our own day, Philip 
III king of Spain, died in the habit of the blessed father; Queen 
Elizabeth, wife of Philip IV, the reigning monarch of Spain, and 
the Princess Mary, his sister, have made their profession in the 
Third Order. Why, then, should it be a subject of astonishment 
to you, that a cardinal should cover his purple with a garment of 
ash color, and gird himself with a cord .^ If this dress seems vul- 
gar and viie, I require it the more, because, finding myself raised 
to a high degree of honor, I must humble myself the more in 
order to avoid pride. But is not the garb of St. Francis, which is 
of ash color, a real purple, which may adorn the dignity of kings 
and cardinals ? Yes, it is a true purple, dyed in the blood of 
Jesus Christ, and in the blood which issued from the stigmates of 
His servant It gives, therefore, a royal dignity to those who 
wear it. What have I done, therefore, in clothing myself with 
this garment.^ I have added purple to purple, the purple of 
royalty, to the purple of the cardinalate ; thus, far from being 
humiliated by it, I have reason to fear that I have done myself too 
much honor, and that I derive from it too much glory.'' 

These sentiments of this learned and pious Cardinal, are well 
calculated to silence the proud and irreligious spirits who turn 
into ridicule practices which the Church approves, and which her 
most illustrious children embrace with fervor. We have seen 
Queen Ann of Austria receive, at Paris, the holy habit of a penitent, 
and make profession* of the rule of the Third Order of St. Francis ; 
Queen INIaria Theresa of Austria, wife of the renowned king, Louis 
XIV, follow this example, and even permit herself to be chosen 
superior of the sisters of the congregation, established in the 
church f of the great convent of the Observance, under the pro- 
tection of St. Ehzabeth of Hungary, and assist at the various pious 
exercises with great edification. 

The Holy See has loaded the brethren and sisters of the Third 
Older with many spiritual favors ; and has granted them many 
privileges and indulgences : and has given to them a participation 



* Father Helyot inserts the document of her profession, which bears her 
own signature the original of which is preserved in the Nazareth Convent at 
Paris, to which that princess sent it. " Hist, des Or J. Relig.," torn. 7, c. 29, 
p. 224. 

+ Father Frassen notices in his ''Exj)l cation de la Regie,' p. 297 et seq., 
and p. 31 of the edition of 1684, that Queen Maria Theresa made her pro- 
fession of the Third Order in the great convent of the Observance at Paris; 
that she contributed by her royal munificence to the buiiding of the beautiful 
chapel where the assemblies of the Order are held ; that she laid the first 
stone, and that, at the earnest entreaties of this pious queen. Pope Clement 
IX granted by his Bull, dated July 1st, 1669. a plenary indulgence in per- 
petuity in this chapel for the feast of .St. E izabeth, who is the Patron. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 241 

in all the merits which are gained in the other two Orders. What 
is singular is, that shortly after its institution, congregations of 
Tertiaries were formed,* in which they lived in community of 
property, making the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedi- 
ence, and practising the works of mercy ; and that the Sovereign 
Pontiff raised them to a religious body.f Thus, besides the 
secular Third Order, there is now a religious one, of both sexes, 
which Pope Leo X confirmed and extended by his Bull, dated 
28th of January, 1521, in which he abridged the rule and adapted 
it to the observances of the religious state. St. Elizabeth of Hun- 
gary, being a widow, joined the three vows of religion to the 
profession of the Third Order of St. Francis, three years after the 
death of the blessed Patriarch, which makes her to be justly con- 
sidered as the mother of the religious of both sexes of the Third 
Order, since she was the first Tertiary who took these solemn vows. J 

Lucchesio and his wife, who were the first '1 ertiaries whom St. 
Francis received, acquired by the exercise of prayer and good 
works, a holiness which God honored by many miracles during 
their life and after their death ; but the wife was sanctified by the 
husband. Although she had embraced, after his example, the 
state of piety, she continued to disapprove the great donations of 
alms which he made, and to prevent them as much as was in her 
power, in consequence of that spirit of avarice and self-interest, 
which constantly induces such tempers to fear that they shall come 
to want. 

One day, Lucchesio having given all the bread that was in his 



* Many religious companies, as Father Helyot observes, have had for their 
founders persons who belonged to the Third Order of St. Francis. Cardinal 
de BeruUe, who founded the Congregation of the Priests of the Oratory, and 
M. Olier, who founded the Seminaries of St. Sulpice, were both of the Third 
Order. Father Frassen says that Olier, who was a man of most exemplary 
life, entered it with such fervor, that his example drew many others into it; 
that he induced the ecclesiastics of his seminary and the parishioners of St. 
Sulpice to become children of St. Francis, becoming, as he himself was, 
brothers of Penance; and that they caused a revival of the congregation of 
the Third Order in the convent of the Observantines. 

t With respect to the time of this establishment, we have nothing more 
correct than that what Helyot says, ch 30. 

t Some have called in question St. Elizabeth's having been f f the Third 
Order, and really a religious ; but as to the former, we must believe St. Bona- 
venture, who speaks positively on the subject, and assures us that he had it 
from the saint's confessor. — Serm. de S. Eliz. torn. 5, Oper. And, as to the 
latter, Pope Gregory IX, who had been in communication witli this Princess, 
notices in the Bull or her canonization, thai she took the religious habit, an I 
submitted herself to the yoke of obedience ; whicli proves that he considere t 
her vows as solemn ones, made under the authority of the Holy See, 
although she had not m:.de the vow o{ enclosure, and that she went out fo:* 
the practice of good works. There are many writers who speak of her as a 
V^ligious. See " Hist, des Ordres Religieux," lorn. 7, ch. 38, p. 292. 

I I 



242 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, 

house to the poor, he begged his wife to give something to otners 
who followed. , She flew into a passion, Hke the wife of Tobias ;* 
and having reproached him with the care he took of strangers to 
the prejudice of those ot his own household, she said that it was 
quite plain that his fasts and watchings had disordered his brain. 
'I'he husband, as patient as he was charitable, was not irritated 
by these reproaches, but quietly requested his wife to look into 
the place where the bread was kept, thinking of Him, who by 
His power had satiated several thousand persons with a few loaves 
and fishes, f She did so, and found a large quantity of fresh 
bread, sufficient to supply the wants of all the poor. This miracle 
had such an effect upon her, that from that time forward, he had 
no occasion to exhort her to the performance of works of mercy ; 
both husband and wife gave themselves up to them with emulation, 
and devoted themselves to them until their deaths. The husband's 
charity shows us that almsgiving does not impoverish ; but that, 
on the contrary, God increases, even sometimes by miracles, the 
pn^perty of such as give liberally ; and the conversion of Lucchesio's 
wife shows that the spirit of interest and avarice, covered by pre- 
tence of economy, renders piety false and deceitful. 

After having established his Third Order, Francis preached in 
several parts of Tuscany, and received an establishment at Colum- 
bario, in a very solitary situation, which was the more agreeable 
to him from the great attraction he had for contemplation. He 
had it erected under the title of the Annunciation of the Blessed 
Virgin, in honor of her divine maternity ; he then returned to St. 
Mary of the Angels. 

An abbess was r quested from the monastery of St. Damian for 
that of Moncel, of the same institute, which was forming at 
Florence ; he consulted thereon the cardinal protector, and by 
his advice he selected Agnes, the sister of Clare, Agnes, out of 
obedience, set out willingly ; she found a very fervent, very united, 
and very submissive community, and the Sovereign Pontiff granted 
all that she required for their spiritual wants. But Agnes was 
seriously grieved to have to part from Clare, and to satisfy her 
heart, she wrote to her a most affectionate letter,, full of the most 
tender sentiments, in which we see ihat the feelings of nature are 
elevated and sanctified by virtue, instead of being weakened. 

At that time, about the month of October, Francis obtained the 
famous indulgence of St. Mary of the Angels, or of Portiuncula, 
of which we shall here relate the circumstances, deferring the proofs 
to the illustrations which will be given at the end of this work. J 

The great lights and inspirations which this holy man received 

*Tob. ii. 22. tMath. xiv. 15. Mark viii. 6. 

t An Appendix which does not form part of this translation. Orat. Editor, 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 243 

in prayer, discovered to him the wretched state of sinners ; he 
deplored their bhndness, and was moved to compassion, and he 
often prayed for them. One night, when he was soHciting their 
conversion from God with great fervor, he was directed by an angel 
to go to the church, where he wouid find Jesus Christ and his 
Blessed Mother, accompanied by a host of celestial spirits. Great- 
ly rejoiced, he went and prostrated himself to render due homage 
to the Majesty of the Son of God. Our Saviour said to him, 
" Francis, the zeal which thou and thy followers have for the sal- 
vation of souls is such, that it entitles thee to solicit something in 
their favor, for the glory of my nam.e/' In the midst of the 
maivels which enraptured him, he made the following prayer : 
''Our most holy Father! I entreat Thee, although I am but a 
miserable sinner, to have the goodness to grant to men, that all 
those who shall visit this church may receive a plenary indulgence 
of all their sins, after having confessed them to a priest ; and i beg 
the Blessed Virgin, Thy Mother, the general advocate of human- 
kind, to intercede that I may obtain this my request/"' The Blessed 
Virgin did intercede, and Jesus Christ spoke the following words : 
"Francis, what thou askest is great, but thou wilt receive still 
greater favors ; I grant thee this one ; I desire thee, nevertheless, to 
go to my vicar, to whom I have given power to bind and to loose, 
and to solicit him for the same indulgence/' The companions of 
the Saint who were in their respective cells, heard all these things ; 
they saw a great light which filled the church, and the multitude ^ 
of angels ; but a respectful fear prevented them from approaching. 

In the early morning, Francis assembled them, and forbade 
their speaking of this miraculous event, and then set out with 
Masse of Marignan for Perugia, where Pope Honorius then was. 

When he came into his presence, he said to him : " ]\Iost Holy 
Father, some years ago I repaired a small church * in your do- 
minions ; I beg you to grant to it a fi'ee indulgence, without any 
obligation of making an offering." The Pope replied, that the 
request could not reasonably be granted, because it was but just 
that he who wished to gain an indulgence should render himself 
desci*vmg of it by some means, particularly by some work of 
charity, "f '' But,'' added he, ''for how many years do you ask 

* He expresses liimself to this effect, because the church of St. Mary of 
the Ant^els was near x\ssisi, and that the Duchy of Spoleto, of which Assisi 
is a part, was, as it still is, in the l^xclesiastical States. 

t Michael de Medina, an excellent theoloi^ian, who assisted at the Council 
of Trent, says that, in iliosc times, no induli^ence was granted without an 
ohli«^ati()n of ^iviniij alms towards ^ainini:; it; that these alms were employed 
to (Icfriy the expenses o( the wars in the Holy Land, in repairs of churches, 
most of which were in a ruinous st.ue, particularly in Italy: ami that, as to 
these last, they were called nuuius adjutrices. De Indulg. cap. ult. JCdit. 
Venet. 1563. 



244 S- FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

me for this indulgence ? " '' Most Holy Father," replied Francis, 
*'may it please your Holiness, not to give me so many years but 
so many souls/' "And in what way do you desire to have 
souls?" rejoined the Pope. "I wish," added Francis, ''that it 
may be the good pleasure of Your Holiness, that those persons 
who enter the church of St. Mary of the Angels, are contrite, 
shall have confessed their sins, and have properly received absolu- 
tion, may receive an entire remission of their sins,* as well in this 
world as in the next, from their baptism, to the time of their so 
entering the chuich. " The Pope then said to him, " Francis, what 
you solicit is a thing of great importance. The Roman court has 
not been accustomed to grant any similar indulgence." '' Most 
Holy Father, "returned Francis, "I ask not this for myself, it is 
Jesus Christ who sent me ; I come from Him." Upon which, the 
Pope said publicly three times : '' It is my desire that it be granted 
to you." 

The Cardinals who were present, represented to him, that in 
granting so important an indulgence, he was subverting the throne 
of the holy law, and that of the sepulchre of the holy apostles. 
'''Ihe concession is made," replied the Pope, ''nor is it right it 
should be revoked ; but let us modify it. " And recalling Francis, 
he said to him ; " We grant you this indulgence which you have 
solicited. It is for all years in perpetuity ; but only during one 
natural day ; from one evening including the night, to the evening 
of the following day." At these words Francis humbly bowed 
down his head. As he went away, the Pope asked him : " Whither 
art thou going, simple man ? What certitude hast thou of what 
thou hast just been granted ? " " Holy Father," he replied, " your 
word is sufficient for me. If this indulgence i§ the work of God, 
He will make it manifest. Let Jesus Christ and His Blessed 
Mother, and the angels, be the notary, on this occasion, the 
paper, and the witnesses. I require no other authenticated docu- 
ment." This was the effect of the great confidence he had in the 
truth of the apparition. 

He left Perugia to return to St. Mary of the Angels, and mid- 
way he stopped at a village named Colle, at a leper hospital, 
where he rested awhile. On awaking, he had recourse to prayer ; 
then he called IMasse, and said to him with great exultation : 
" 1 can assure you that the indulgence which has been granted to 
me by the Sovereign Pontiff is confirmed in heaven." The day 
had not been fixed ; it was not so, until the beginning of the 



* That is, of the punishment due to their sins ; for the guilt of sin is re- 
mitted by the sacrament, and not by the indulgence. St. Francis expresses 
himself here as the Popes do in their Bulls: '^\\e grant a plenary indul- 
gence and full remission of all their sins to all the faithful who,'' etc. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 245 

year 1223, with other marvellous circumstances which will be 
hereafter related. 

Clare wished to see once more the Church of St. Mary of the 
Angels in which she had renounced the world, and to take 
another meal with Francis, her spiritual Father. He refused her 
his leave for some time ; but his companions having represented to 
him that he treated a virgin whom he himself had consecrated to 
Jesus Christ, with too much harshness, he consented * to what she 
wished. An appropriate day was fixed on, and she came to the con- 
vent of Portiuncula, accompanied by some of her nuns, and some 
Friars Minor who went on purpose to the convent of St Damian. 

Alter having prayed fervently in the church, and visited f the 
convent, the Friars and the nuns seated themselves round the 
refection which Francis had had laid out on the ground, in 
pursuance of his usual practice of humility, which was his daily 
observance, whenever it was in his power. The first nourishment 
they took was for the soul. Tbe holy Patriarch spoke of God, 
but in so moving a manner, and with so much unction and 
animation, that all who heard him were thrown into ecstasy, as he 
was himself. At the same time, the convent, the church, and the 
woods seemed to the inhabitants of Assisi and environs, to be 
on fire. Many ran thither to afford their aid ; but finding every- 
thing in good order, they entered the convent, where they saw, 
with still greater surprise, the whole assembly in a state of ecstasy. 
By that they were made aware that what had seemed to them to 
be a fire, was the type of the fire which inflamed these holy 
bosoms, and they returned greatly edified. 

By this marvel the Lord clearly showed that He approved the 
request, which Clare had made, to be allowed to come to the 
Portiuncula ; as by another marvel He approved of the prayer 
which St. Scholastica made to detain her brother, St. Benedict, 
whom she wished to hear speak of the happiness of the future 
life, in the place in which they had just dined together. J Such 



* The first positive law which there is in the Church, obliging nuns to 
enclosure, is grounrled on the Constitution of Pope Boniface VIII, cap. 
Periculor. de Stat. Regul, in 6, wliich was renewed by the Council cf Trent, 
Sess. 25, de Kegul. cap. 5. 'llius Clare and her companions might legally 
go out of the monastery; besides which, they had the leave of their superior. 
The Council even permits nuns to leave their convent for any legitimate 
cause approved by the bishop. 

t Although it has been strictly ruled not to j^ermit females to enter into 
convents of religious men, yet the Holy See has nevertheless not hesitated 
to give such leave in special cases; the«^e leaves liave been recalled by Pope 
St. Pius V, :nd by Pope Gregory XIII. Const. 28, forbidding their entry 
under the severest peiiallies. It is not to be doubted that St" Francis, the 
Founder and General of his Order, was empowered by Pope Ilonorius III 
to allow the entry into his convents at his discretion. 

I St. Grcgor. Dialog. F.ib. 2, cap. 33. 



246 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

was the condescension of His goodness for the consolation of 
these two saints, and it is thus that, according to the words of the 
prophet, *' He fulfils the wishes of those who fear Him.'' * 

The repast finished without am' one having chosen to eat any- 
thing, so much were they filled with celestial aliment ; and Clare 
returned to the monaster}' of St. Damian, where her sisterhood 
received her with so much the more satisfaction, as they had been 
fearful that they would have given her the direction of some new 
establishment, as they had, a short time before, sent her sister 
Agnes to Florence as abbess. They knew that Francis had said 
to her on other occasions : "Be prepared to go wherever it may 
be necessary; " and that she had obediently answered, '*' ]\Iy father, 
I am ready to go whithersoever you may send me.'' Her having 
gone out seemed to them a preparation for some longer journey, 
and their grief for having lost Agnes, their dear companion, 
increased the fears they had, lest they should lose Clare, also, who 
was in their regard a most excellent mistress of spiritual life. But 
they had not, thereafter, any similar alarms : this was the only 
time in forty-two years that their holy mother left the enclosure. 

Elias, the vicai general, gave Francis great uneasiness, by his 
erroneous views. ]\Iany of the Friars ]\Iinor came to see their 
Patriarch, w^ho received them with ever}' mark of kindness. The 
vicar made great distinction between them. He was \ery parti- 
cular in honoring those whom science and dignities rendered 
considerable in the Order : he never failed giving them the first 
places, and he took care to satisfy all they needed ; while he left 
the others in the lowest places, and often without attending to 
their necessar}* wants. In his station he did what the apostle St. 
James forbids all Christians to do, whether to rich, or to poor, he 
made a distinction of persons, f 

^i heir common Father, who could not endure that so great a 
difference should be made, paiticularly amongst persons of the 
same Institute, affected, one day, at table, after grace had been said, 
to call two of the most simple of the brethren, and to place one 
on each side of him, without showing any attention to the merits 
of others. He did this, not because he disapproved of peculiar 
consideration being shov.n to those to whom it is due, according 
to the maxim of St Paul,! in consequence of their character, 
their dignity, or their personal qualifications, but because he did 
not choose that these considerations should be to the disadvantage 
of those who had not similar circumstances to recommend them, 
and to whom, according to the same apostle, besides the feelings 
of charit}' to which they and all others are entitled, a certain 
degree of honor should be shown. 

* Psalm cxliv. 19. t James, ii. 1. ; Rom. xii. 10, and xiii. 7. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 247 

The vicar general, who was not impressed with a similar way 
of thinking, was highly indignant at this act of the Saint, and 
murmuring to himself, he said, ''Ah ! Brother Francis, it is quite 
certain that your extreme simplicity will be the ruin of the Order. 
You place alongside of you, men who have neither learning nor 
talents, and you affront those who are the support of the Order by 
their science." Francis, who by a supernatural revelation, was 
made aware of what his vicar had passing in his mind, replied 
immediately to his thought. "And you, brother Elias, you do 
much greater injury to the Order by your vanity, and by the 
prudence of the flesh, with w-hich you are filled. The judgments 
of God are impenetrable ; He knows you as you are, and, never- 
theless, He chose that you should be superior of the Order ; and 
it is His desire that I leave it in your hands. Alas ! I fear that 
the people, and he who governs them, resemble each other, and 
that God has only given a pastor, such as He foresees the flock 
will be. '' The holy Patriarch w^ell knew^ that the whole of the flock 
would not be corrupted by Brother Elias, and that the majority of 
the members would resist him, as it came to pass. And thus the 
fear which he experienced in general terms, was a warning to keep 
them all to their duty. But what he added was a true prophecy : 
''Unhappy man, as you are, you will not die in this Order ; God 
has so decreed. You have been weighed in the balances, and 
have been wanting,"^ because you are puffed up with the science 
of the w^orld. " 

The following is the way in which this matter is related in the 
ancient legend which is followed by St. Antoninus. f Francis, 
knowing by a revelation that Brother Elias would die out of the 
Order, and would be damned, avoided conversing with him, and 
even seeing him. Elias noticed this, and did not rest till he 
discovered the reason. Terrified and dismayed at such a prohecy, 
he threw himself at the feet of his kind master, and entreated him 
to intercede with God to prevent one of the flock committed to 
his care, from perishing eternally. " Let not the sentence which 
has been revealed to you, discourage you ; for the Lord J may 
change His decree, if the smner corrects his sin. 1 have such 
confidence in your prayers, my very dear Father, that I should 
think they would mitigate § my sufferings even if 1 were in hell, 

* Dan. V. 27. 

t St. AiUoii. Chron. part. 3, tit. ^4, c. 9, vN 3, Wading. a<i. ann. 1253. 

t " Novit Dciis niuiare sententiam, si tu noveris emendaie delictum.'' St. 
Ainbros. in Luc. lib. 2, n. j^. Do P(Xinit. Dist. I, Cap. Novit Dominus. 

*^S The common opinion of Catholics is, tliat tlie sufferings of the damned 
are never mitigated, allho'igh some of llic most dlustrious of the holy Fathers, 
who athnil that they are eternal, as faith teaches, have nevertheless thought 
thai prayers, almsdeeds. and the Sacrifice of the Mass might afford tlieni 
some mitigatioh. Fatlier Pelau. wlio quotes these with precision, remarks, 



248 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

as you have been told I shall be. Pray for me, my Father ; pray, 
and I have no doubt but that God will modify His decree, and 
that I shall be converted/' Francis prayed, and obtained from 
God that Brother Elias should not be damned, but he could not 
obtain the reversal of the decree which said that he should not 
die in the Order. It was, in fact, out of the Order that he died ; 
but, previous to his death, he gave great signs of contrition, as will 
be seen further on. 

Wading makes on this a judicious remark, wo: thy of a sound 
theologian. He says that Brother Elias, who was universally 
admitted to be a learned man, was not ignorant that the decrees 
of God which are absolute, are immutable, because He himself 
is incapable of change ; but he also knew that the Lord sometimes 
expressed Himself in absolute words against sinners, which decrees 
are merely threats, which may be changed by their repentance^ 
without His changing, according to what He has said by the 
prophet Jeremy: ''I will suddenly speak against 2 nation, and 
against a kingdom, to root out, and to pull down, and to destro-y 
it. * If that nation against which I have spoken shall repent o>f 
their evil, I also will repent of the evil that I thought to do 
them." Jonas sent from God, had positively announced that in 
forty days Nineveh should be destroyed, and nevertheless the 
penitence of the Ninevites hindered the destruction of their city.f 
St. Gregory J says, that in this sense God changed His decrees^ 
but did not change His design ; and St. Thomas says, § that God 
proposes the change of certain things, but that in His will no 
change takes place. Sinners, however, must not abuse this 
doctrine, and imagine that God only threatens them, and that 
He will not damn them, for He has an absolute will to damn 
eternally those who die in mortal sin, as well as to crown with 
immortal glory such as die in a state of grace. In truth, it is His 
wish that sinners should be converted, and He places the means 
in their, power by His mercy; ''But," says St. Augustine, ''He 
has not promised a to-morrow to your delay ; " and as the apostle 
has it: "According to thy hardness and impenitent heart tho-u 
treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wTath, and revela- 
tion of the just judgment of God, who will render to every man 
according to his works." [,[ 

The example of the holy Patriarch, who had sought three 
times, the crown of martyrdom, and the triumph of the five 
brethren martyred at Morocco, had inspired many with an ardent 

that the Church never prays for the damned, and that she would do so, if 
she thought it could procure ihem any relief Theol. Dog. torn. 5, De Angel. 

• Jerem. xviii, 7 et 8. t Jonas, iii, 4, 9 & 10. 

t SJ Greg. Moral, lib. xvi, cap. § Id. Part, qusest. 19, art 7. 

!| St. Aug. in Psalm cxliv, n. n, Rom, ii, 5, and 6. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 249 

desire to die for Jesus Christ. Shortly after Elias had been restored 
as vicar general, Daniel, minister in the province of Calabria, 
asked leave to go and preach the faith to the Moors, with six other 
brethren, whose names were Samuel, Donule or Daniel, Leo, 
Hugolin, Nicholas, and Angelus. Having received the permis- 
sion of the vicar general, and the blessing of Francis, they 
embarked in a port of Tuscany, from whence they sailed to 
Tarragona. Their first intention was to have gone to Morocco, 
to mingle their blood with that of their martyred brethren, but 
some reasons, probably favorable to their intention, induced them 
to go to Ceuta. 

Daniel arrived first with three of his companions, the master of 
the vessel not having thought proper to take on board more. 
They lived out of the town, in a village inhabited by traders from 
Pisa, Genoa, and Marseilles, because Christians might not enter 
the town without a particular permission. Their occupation here 
was to preach to these traders, until they should be joined by their 
companions, who arrived there on the 29th of September. 

The following Friday, which was the first of October, they 
consulted together as to their future plans, and the aids they 
should require in the formidable combat they were about to 
sustain. On the Saturday, they confessed and received the Holy 
Communion, without which, when it is possible to receive it, St. 
Cyprian * would not suffer confessors to be exposed to martyrdom 
for the faith, because it is the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ 
which gives the strength to endure it. St. Chrysostom and St. 
Bernard, f also, say that it is the firmest defence which can be 
opposed to the temptations of the devil, and to the allurements 
of sin, which are powerful motives for having recourse to frequent 
communion. 

The seven brothers went forth from the holy table, according to 
the expression of St. Chrysostom, J ''as roaring lions, breathing 
fire and flames," and they could not restrain the zeal which 
animated them. On the evening of the same day, they washed 
each other's feet, in order to follow the example of the Son of 
God, who washed His disciples' feet before His Passion ; and very 
early on the Sunday morning, before there were any persons in 
the streets, they entered the town, having their heads strewed with 
ashes, and commenced crying out with a loud voice, *' There is 
no salvation but through Jesus Christ." § 

The Moors soon collected, abused and beat them, and led 
them to the king. The missionaries then repeated, in presence 

* St. Cyprian. Epist. 54. 

t St. Chrysost. Homil. 45 in Joan, and 24 in i, ad Cor. St. Bernard in 
Coen. Dei. 

t Id. il). ^ Acts, iv. 12. 



250 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

of the learned in the law, what they had previously said to the 
people, "That it was requisite to believe in Jesus Christ; that 
there was no salvation in any other name than His," which they 
proved by the most forcible arguments. The king, who fully 
understood that in thus upholding the name of Jesus Christ they 
rejected that of Mahomet, looked upon them as idiots, and 
thought that their shaven heads, with a* crown of hair round them, 
was a proof of their folly. However, to prove their constancy, he 
had them confined in a loathsome jail, where he kept them eight 
days in irons, and where they were cruelly treated. 

Their confinement did not prevent their finding means to write 
to the Christians who were in the vicinity of Ceuta. Their letter 
was addressed to Hugh, Cure of the Genoese, and to two religious, 
one of their own Order, and the other of the Order of Friars 
Preachers, who had just returned from the farthest part of Mauri- 
tania. They -blessed, in the first instance, the Father of Mercies, 
who consoled them in their tribulation ; and, after having quoted 
several passages from the Scriptures to justify their mission and to 
animate themselves to suffering, they assured their brethren that 
they had borne witness, and strongly argued in presence of the 
king, '' that there is no salvation but in the name of Jesus Christ ; '' 
and they concluded by referring to God the glory of all that they 
had done. 

The judge, whose name was Arbold, wishing to see what they 
did in prison, saw that they were no longer chained, that their 
faces shone with a splendid light, and that they sang the praises 
of God with extraordinary joy. The king, having been apprised 
of this, caused them to be brought before him on Sunday, the 
tenth of October, and offered them great wealth if they would 
become Mussulmen. * They boldly replied, that they utterly 
despised all the things of this world and of the present life, in con- 
sequence of the happiness of the future life. They were then 
separated, and each was separately tempted, by promises and 
threats, but they were all found steadfast in their resolution. 
Daniel, speaking with great energy, one of the Moors cut him 
across the head with his scimitar, from which he did not even 
wince, and another exhorted him to embrace the law of Mahomet, 
to save his life with honor. "Wretch!" exclaimed Daniel, 
"your Mahomet and all his followers are but ministers of Satan, 
and your Koran is but a series of lies ; be no longer misled, but 
embrace the Christian faith." 

As soon as the seven brothers were collected together, six of 
them threw themselves at Daniel's feet, who had procured this 

* This word signifies "True believers.'' It is the name which Mahometans 
give themselves, as one of honor. In the usual acceptation, it means th€ 
loUowers of Mahomet. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 25 1 

mission for them, and who was their leader, and said to him with 
tears of joy : '^ We give thanks to God and to you, our father, for 
having procured for us the crown of martyrdom ; our souls will 
follow yours ; bless us and die : the struggle will be soon over, 
and we shall enjoy eternal peace/'' 

Daniel tenderly embraced them, gave them his blessing, and 
encouraged them by these words : ' ' Let us rejoice in the Lord : 
this is for us a festival day ; angels surround us, the heavens are 
opened to receive us ; this day we shall receive the crown of mar- 
tyrdom, which will last forever." 

In fact, the king, seeing that they were resolute, and not to be 
shaken, condemned them to be beheaded. They were stripped, 
had their hands tied behind them, and were taken to the place of 
execution, whither they went as to a banquet, preceded by a 
herald, who proclaimed the cause of their death, and where, after 
having recommended their souls to God, they were decapitated, 
on the tenth of October,'^ in the year 1221. "f 

Children, and • other infidels broke their skulls to pieces, and 
mutilated the remains of the holy martyrs ; but these precious 
relics were gathered up by the Christians, and removed into the 
storehouse of the Marseillese, and were afterwards buried in their 
dwellings beyond the walls of Ceuta. It is asserted that some 
years afterwards they were transferred to the church of St. Maiy, 
near Morocco, and that God manifested them by miracles, and 

^ It was, according to some, on the 9th, and according to others, on the 
Sth of October. See Wading, ad ann. 1221, and the Franciscan MartyroJ. 
13 October. 

t Wading maintains, upon good grounds, that they were martyred in 1 22 1, 
in the lifetime of St. Francis. He proves this from an ancient manuscript, 
entitled ^'Vinea Sancii Francisci," from which Surius has taken their acts; 
hy tlie ancient Breviary of the church of Braga, in Portugal ; by the ancient 
Breviary of tlie Order of Friars Minor; by Maland, in his additions to the 
Martyrology of Usuard, and by Cardinal Baronius in his notes on the Roman 
Martyrology. Saint Antoninus is the first who has said that Brother Elias 
gave them leave to go and preach to the infidels the year after the death of 
St. Francis, which was in the year 1227. He has been followed by some, 
but his testimony is not supported by any proof, and must not be preferred 
to the authority of a manuscript and two breviaries to which it is posterior. 
Thus it should not have been put in the Breviary of the Order of St. Francis_, 
printed at Paris, at the first Lesson of the second Nocturn of the feast of these 
holy martyrs, *'anno ducentesiiro vigesimo septimo," and more particularly 
because the terms of the ancient breviary have been preserved in it. '* Fratrc 
Flia generali ministro, Patrisque Francisci tunc r. genie vices," which shows 
that Klias was Francis' vicar, and, consequentlv, that the Patriarch was still 
alive; if Flias is called general minister, it is because he performed the 
functions of that office, and that the holy man L;ave him that title. The 
breviary then, must be corrected in this pnrticular, and "anno ducentesimo 
vigesimo primo " placed in lien of the former date. We have since seen a 
breviary, printed nt Rome, in which the same date is mentioned as in the Paris 
edition. It should be seen whether the editors have strcnigcr arguments for 
it than tho>e of WadinLi. 



2^2 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

particularly by a splendid light, which even the ]\Ioors saw during 
the night ; and that some time afterwards an Infant of Portugal, 
having obtained them from a king of Morocco, had them 
removed into Spain, where fresh miracles rendered them celebrated. 
Whatever truth there may be in the account of these trans- 
lations, it is not known now where the relics of these seven 
martyrs are. What is certain is, that the faithful had their mem- 
ory in great veneration, and that in 1516, the Friars Minor solicited 
leave from Pope Leo X, to recite an office in their honor, which 
leave he most willingly granted to them, placing them in the 
number of martyrs recognized by the Church, as they are com- 
memorated in the Roman ]\Iaityrology on the* 13th of October. 

We may imagine the satisfaction their triumph gave to Francis, 
from the ardent desire he always evinced for the crown of 
martyrdom, and the tender love he bore for his children. He 
had, moreover, in this year another great consolation on this 
subject. Pope Honorius sent to almost all the bishops of Europe, 
desiring them to send him four men from each province, or at 
least two, noted for their science and the integrity of their lives, 
whom it was his intention to commission to preach to the idol- 
aters, and to the Saracens, for whose conversion he was most 
anxious, and amongst the number thus selected there were many 
Friars Minors, and Friars Preachers who generously exposed 
themselves to every sort of peril for the salvation of souls. 

The intimate union which the love of God had formed between 
St. Dominic and St. Francis, induces us to notice here, that the 
Blessed Patriarch f of the Dominicans died this year, on the sixth 
day of August, at the age of fifty-one years. \ The eminent sanctity 
of his life, the great miracles he performed, particularly in raising 
three dead persons to jife, and principally Napoleon, the nephew 

* Their fenst has beea transferred to 13th October, on account of the Octave 
of St. Francis. Martyrol. of the Franciscans. Not. ad diem 13th October. 

t Wading found his portrait drawn in the following terms in the "Legend 
of St. Francis," composed by order of Pope Gregory IX, and in another of 
the same date: "He was of a middle size, slender and well proportioned. 
His face was handsome, and countenance plt:asing; his voice was sonorous, 
and h s hands long; his hair, which adorned his whole head, was of a light 
color, rather reddish, as .was his beard. From his countenance and from his 
eyes, there were flashes which were imposing, and called forth respect. A 
religious joy was observable in his looks, unless the compassion he felt for 
the miserable ma-ie him nppear sorrowful." The same author adds, that the 
holiness of St. Dominic, his astonishing eloquence, and something majestic 
in his counte lance, added to a virginal modesty, gained him the affection of the 
Spaniards, his countrymen, of the French, and Ila ians, and of persons of every 
other nation, so that he acquired an ascendency over their minds, and turned 
them as he pleased. — Wading, ad ann. 1221, n. 4^^. 

t His feast was fixed by Pope Paul IV. for the 4th of August, because the 
5lh and 6th ware alreadv filled bv other festivals. 



S-. FRAN'CIS OF ASSISI. 253 

of Cardinal Stephen de Fossanuova, which was so extraordinary ; 
the ardor and splendor of his zeal for the destruction of heresy, 
his inviolable attachment to the holy See, his tender piety to the 
Blessed Virgin, whom he causes to be generally and daily honored 
in the devotion of the Rosary, and the establishment of his 
Order, so useful by its science, by its piety, and by the great 
services it had rendered to the Church, which must make it 
revered by all the faithful, cause him to be illustrious through 
the entire Church ; and among the Friars Minor, there is not 
one who, if animated by the spirit of St. Francis,, must not have 
a special devotion for St. Dominic, and a respectful affection for 
those of his Order.* 

Charity, which inflamed the breast of Francis, soon drew him 
from his retreat. He set out on the beginning of the year 1222, 
for the Terra di Lavoro, Apulia and Calabria, and, in the course of 
this journey, God worked many splendid miracles by his hand. 

Passing, first, through the town of Toscanella, on the road to 
Rome, he received hospitality from a knight, whose only son was 
lame in both legs, and was in a state of suffering through his 
whole body. The afflicted father asked him to procure the cure 
of his son from God ; he abstained from doing this for some time 
out of humility, esteeming himself unworthy of being heard for 
others, but being prevailed upon by reiterated entreaties, he placed 
his hands upon him, and made the sign of the cross upon the 
boy, who, at the same moment, stood upright and firm on his legs, 
and was entirely cured, to the great astonishment of his whole 
family. 

At Rome, he made acquaintance, and became intimate with a 
nobleman, named Mathew de Rubeis, of the illustrious family of 
the Orsini. One day, on which he had been invited, to dinner 
there, and having got there at the appointed hour, not finding his 
host yet returned from town, he joined, unperceived, the poor to 
whom they were giving a meal, and he received the alms with 
them. The nobleman arrived shortly after, and inquired where 
Brother Francis was, and as ihey did not find him, he declared he 
would not eat his dinner, if he did not come. While they were 
looking for him, he saw him seated in the yard with a group of 
poor. He went to him, and said: ''Brother Fmnci.s, since you 
won't dine with me, I am come to dine with you ;" which he did. 



* There must be no exception on this head ; unless it was grounded on a 
letter of the Rev. Father A. Cloche, general of the Oriler, dated Rome, P'eb. 
26th, 1 71 7, on the deliberation of the Provincial Chapter of Lower Germany, 
held at Louvain, May 3d, 1 719. and on the approbalion given to a book 
printed at Pans, in 1727, entitled " La Solide Devotion du^Kosnire." See 
the ^'Memoires du Trcvoux," Sept. 1727. Nouvelles Littcraires, article 
d'Lspagne. 



254 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

placing himself on the ground near him, and in the group, where 
he found himself very comfortable in that company. When he 
heard that the holy man had established a Third Order for secular 
persons of all ranks, he prayed for admission into it, and had 
himself instructed in the practices to be observed. The considera- 
tion which his rank in life gave him in the world, threw great 
splendor on the new institution, and drew many persons to it. 

There was a little child called John whom he requested Francis 
to bless ; the servant of God gave him his blessing ; he took him 
in his arms and foretold his father that he would bring great glory 
to his house, for that he would be Sovereign Pontiff. Then, 
fixing his eyes upon the child, he spoke to him as if he had had the 
use of reason ; he entreated him seriously, and in most affection- 
ate terms, to be favorable to his Order ; after which the prophet 
continued as follows : " He will not be a Religious of our Order, 
but he will be its protector ; he will not be reckoned among its 
children, but he will be acknowledged as its father ; and our 
brethren will be delighted at seeing themselves under his shadow. 
I consider the immense benefits we shall receive from this child, 
I see them already in his little hands.'' Such a prediction caused 
as much pleasure as surprise to the lord of the family of the 
Orsini, but he never spoke of it till he saw its fulfilment, which 
happened fifty-five years afterwards. His son, cardinal, under the 
title of St. Nicholas, was chosen Pope in the year 1277, and took 
the name of Nicholas HI. His singular benevolence for the 
Order of the Friars Minor showed that its holy Founder had not 
spoken in vain to him in his infancy. 

From Rome Francis went to visit the grotto of St. Benedict. 
He considered with great attention the bush covered with thorns, 
into which the great Patriarch of the monastic life had the courage 
to throw himself, in order to overcome a temptation of the flesh.* 
In admiration of such extraordinary fervor, he touched this bush 
as a sacred relic ; he kissed it, and made on it the sign of the 
cross. God, in order to honor his two servants, f changed it 
immediately into a beautiful rose-tree, the flowers of which have 
served in many cases for the cure of the sick ; the place has since 

* St. Greg. Dial. lib. ii., cap. 2. 

t This is what a poet has expressed in the following verses : 
"Virgineum sepit florem Benedictus acutis 
Vepribus, et proprii rore cruoris aht. 
Hinc dumeta novas tanto foecunda liquore, 

Fran :isci que manu culta tulere rosas. 
Falsa quidem roseo cecinere e germine Vates 

Sed latuit falso carmine vera fides. 
Scire cupis rosei flos exeat unde pudoris? 
Sola rosas potuit gignere puncta Venus/' 
See Wading, ad ann. 1222. n'. 5. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



^:)D 



been held in greater respect. In a chapel which is near it, and 
which was consecrated by Gregory IX, we see that Pope, with 
Francis on his left hand, who holds a scroll of paper, on which 
these words, taken from the Gospel of St. Luke, are written, 
' ' Peace be to this house, " * words which he constantly used 
as a salutation. 

The remainder of his journey was remarkable for many other 
wonders which were worked through his means, in announcing 
the word of God. While preaching at Gaeta,t on the border of 
the sea, seeing that a crowd of people were anxious, from a devo- 
tional feeling, to touch him, he threw himself into a boat to avoid 
these demonstrations of respect, which were disagreeable to him. 
The boat, which had no sailors in it, floated to a certain distance 
out to sea, and then became stationary : from thence he gave in- 
s! ruction to those who were on the shore, and the crowd dispersing 
alter having received his blessing, the boat returned cf itself to its 
former place. St. Bonaventura exclaims on this : ' ' Who, after this, 
will have a heart so hardened and so irreligious as to despise the 
preaching of Francis, to which inanimate things lent their aid, 
as if they had reasoning faculties ? "' 

The inhabitants of Gaeta, admiring the power which God gave 
to His servant, entreated him to stay some time in their town, and 
to permit them to build there a convent for his Order. He assented 
to this, and the work was commenced forthwith. While the church 
was in progress, a carpenter was crushed by the falling of a beam. 
As the other workmen were carrying him home, Francis, who was 
returning from the country, met them, and directed them to lay the 
dead man on the ground ; he then made the sign of the cross on him, 
took him by the hand, called him by his name, and comm.anded 
him to arise. The dead man rose immediately and went back to 
his work. This is well-known in the country by successive tradi- 
tion, and a small chapel has been erected, under due authority, on 
the spot where the miracle was performed, in order to perpetuate 
the memory thereof 

The earliest authors of the life of our Saint record a very 
singular miracle which he performed on his route, in the house 
of a gentleman. All the inhabitants of the place were gone to 
the great square to hear him preach. A female servant who had 
been left in a house to take care of a child, wishing to hear the 
sermon, left the child alone. On her return, she found the child 
dead, and half-boiled in a copper of hot water, into which it had 
fallen. She took it out, and in order to hide the disaster from the 

* Luke, X. 5. 

t Or Gaele, Or Gaiete, a town in the Terra di Lavoro, in the kingdom of 
Naples, so called, according to Virgil, from the nurse of .'l^neas, who died 
there. yEneid, vii. 



256 S. FKAXCIS OF ASSISI. 

father and mother, she shut it up in a trunk ; the parents, however, 
learnt their misfortune, which was the more afflicting as this was 
their only child. The husband entreated his wife not to let her 
distress appear, out of respect for the servant of God, who was to 
dine with them. During dinner, Francis endeavored to inspire 
them with a holy joy, knowing what the x\lmighty had in store 
for their consolation, and at the end of the dinner he feigned to wish 
to eat some apples. They expressed their regret that they had 
none to offer him ; but pointing to the trunk in which the child 
was shut up, he said : " Let them look there, and some will be 
found." It was in vain that they assured him that there were none 
there ; he insisted on having the trunk opened. The gentleman, 
to oblige him, and with a view of hiding the object of their grief, 
opened the trunk, when, judge of his aslonishment on findmg 
his child alive and well, and, with a smiling countenance, holding 
an apple in each hand. Transported with joy, he carried the 
child and placed it in the arms of the holy man. 

The people of Capua were so moved by his preaching, and by 
the miracles he performed, particularly on his having saved from 
the waters a woman whom the river Volturnus had carried off, 
that the town made him the offer of a convent. St. Anastasius, 
Bishop of Civita di Penna, gave him another, with great marks 
of regard, after having gone out to meet him, on an inspiration he 
had in his sleep that Francis vvould come the next day to his 
town, a circumstance which is recorded by a painting in the 
church, and is explained in two Latin verses."^ 

The servant of God having preached during the entire day at 
Montella, went to pass the night in a wood in the vicinity of that 
town, where he seated himself with his companion under an ever- 
green oak. f Some persons who passed by, in the morning, 
perceived that there was no snow where the two Religious sat, 
although there had been a heavy fall in the night, and they related 
the circumstance to the lord of ^Montella, who sent for Francis, 
and entreated him to remain in that countr)-, or to leave some of 
his companions amongst them, for the instruction of the people. 
He left two, for whom they built a house on the very spot where 
heaven had been so favorable to him, and the wood was sanctified 
thereby, which had previously been the resort of robbers. 



* Coelitus admonitus, Prsesiil Pennensis it ultro : 
Complexusque Patrem, dat quoque spoiite locimi. 
t Marianiis of Florence, quoted by Wading, ad ann. 1222, n. 14, says that, 
in his time, two hundred years after St. Francis, this ever-green oak was still 
alive, and that a Religious having cut it, because it impeded the view of the 
town, he fell immediately ill, and died in a few days, in great suffering. 
This shows that it is God's will that even the smallest memorials of the 
marvels He works in honor of His saints, sliall l>c res[)ected. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 257 

The force which God gave to his discourses, and the miracles 
of which He made him the instrument, converted sinners, and 
animated the piety of the good. Both the one and the other were 
anxious to retain him amongst them, or, at least, to have some 
of his religious. In this journey alone, he founded more than 
twenty houses, among which was one at Amalfi,* whither his 
devotion had led him to honor the relics of the apostle St. 
Andrew, f The inhabitants of Acropoli, who at first had been 
deaf to his instruction, were penetrated with contrition, and gave 
him a convent, after having been reproached with the hardness of 
their hearts by a multitude of fish, that God caused to collect 
round a rock from which Francis preached those truths which this 
people had refused to listen to. 

The Emperor J Frederic II was, at that time, with his court at 
Bari. The servant of God went there, no doubt, to venerate the 
relics of the great bishop St.* Nicholas ; § he preached in the town, 
and, as his discourses were always made suitable to the wants of 
his auditors, he spoke energetically on the dangers of the court, 
and particularly against impurity. Some courtiers who heard him, 
reported the circumstance to the emperor, who remarked that it 
often happened that those who did these things in private, were 
the most violent in exclaiming against others in public ; that it 
was not known whether this preacher was one of that sort, but, in 
order to ascertain it, he should be invited to supper, and a female 
should be secretly introduced into his bedroom ; this was accord- 
ingly done, and the Saint resorted to similar means to what he 
had used in the case of the Saracen female who had solicited him 

* A town in the kingdom of Naples, the seat of an archbishop. 

t These sacred relics had been brought to Naples, with those of St. Luke, 
in the year 357, on the 3d of March, by the care of the Emperor Constantius, 
and had been deposited in the Church of the Apostles. Chron. Hier. ann. 
357. Idat. Fast. ann. 356, 357. St. Hieron. in Vigilant. The French and 
Venetians having taken the city of Constantinople, in the year 1204, carried 
away a great number of relics, and Cardinal Peter of Capua, Legate of the 
Holy See, had the body of St. Andrew, which he gave to the church of 
Amalfi, his native place. From that time, St. Andrew has been the titular of 
that church, and the patron saint of Amalfi. The account of this translation 
is found in the 7th tome of "Italia Sacra," page 272. It is taken from 
the original, which is preserved in the cathedral church. See the notes of 
Baronius on the Roman Martyrology of the 9th of May. 

I The Emperor was, in fact, in Italy, in the year 1222. Raynald. ad ann. 
1222, n. 31 & 32, et ad ann. 1223, n. I. 

$ The relics of this holy bishop were brought to Bari, a maritime town of 
Apulia, on the Adriatic Sea, in 1087, by some merchants of that town, who 
had taken them from the town of Myra. God has lionorcd them by an 
infinite number of miracles, and one of the most celebrated pilgrimages is 
made to that place. Ourson, Archbishop of Bari, lial ilie history of the 
translation and miracles written l:)y John. Arclideacon of that church, in the 
year 1088. Surius places it on the 9th of May. 



2 5^5 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

to sin, in Eg}pt Ke placed himself on red-hot coals, and invited 
the wanton to imitate him ; she was so terrified at this, that she 
betook herself to flight. The emperor, who had had the curiosity 
to spy into what was going on, with some of his courtiers, through 
a chink * which was purposely prepared, went into the room, and 
ibaid to Francis : ' * I see that God is with you, since the fire has 
nut burnt you ; you must be thankful to Him, and we will beg 
His pardon for havmg put you through such an ordeal." Then 
having disiiiissed those who were with him, he willingly listened 
to what the Saint said to him on the* subject of his salvation. But 
the evils which this irreligious and debauched prince did to the 
Church, in which the Friars Minor had a considerable share, and 
which their zeal for their mother brought upon them, are too 
clear proofs that what the Saint said to him bore no profitable fruit 
On leaving Bari, he found on the road a purse, f which appeared 
to be full of money. His companion, who was aware of his 
great charity, said that he ought to take it for the poor. Francis 
refused to do so, saying that it Wc^s only a snare of the devil, and 
that, if it was really money which had been lost, it would not be 
right to take what belonged to others to give away in alms ; so they 
continued their route. His companion was not satisfied ; he 
thought that an opportunity- was lost of doing a good action, and 
he tired Francis with his remonstrances. The holy man, who 
was ven- mild and ver\- obligmg, returned to the spot where the 
purse was, not intending to do what his companion wished, but 
to expose to him the artifice of the e\'il spirit. A young man was 
passing at the time, in whose presence he told his companion to 
take up the purse ; he, trembling fi-om a secret misgi^'ing of what 
was about to happen, would have been glad not to have anything 
to do with it ; but, obliged to obey, he put his hand to it, which he 
had no sooner done than he saw a large snake slide out, which 
disappeared with the purse. On which, Francis said to his com- 
panion, ' ' Brother, money is, as regards the servants of God, but 
as a venomous serpent, and even the devil himself"' We may 
here add, that it is the same thing for those who are too fond of 
it, and who avariciously keep it, or make it serv-e for the gratifica- 
tion of their passions. A chapel, which has been built in that 
. place, is a memorial of the teaching of the Patriarch to the poor 
of Jesus Christ. 

* Wading says, that in order to preserve the memory of this event, the 
tower in which it occurred was called, and is still called, the Tower of St. 
Francis. 

t St. Bonaveniure. Legend, cap. 7. says that it was a sort of deep purse, 
called, in the language of the country. Funda. It is thought that Macrobius 
uses this wo d in the same sense. 2 Saturn, cap. 4. See ** Ducange's Glos- 
sary" at the word Funda, wnere he quotes St. Bonaventure. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 259 

His devotion induced him also to visit the grotto consecrated 
by the apparition * of the Archangel Michael, on Mount Gar- 
gano.l They wished, out of respect, to take him to the very spot 
where the blessed spirit was manifested, and where mass is offered 
up, a privilege wdiich is not allowed to all. But through humility 
he stopped at the door, and, as he was urged to enter, he said : ''I 
dare not go farther ; this place is awful ; it is the dwelling of angels, 
whom men should respect in all ways." The place where he 
stopped to pray is shown to this day. These sentiments of 
humility should abash those Christians who crowd round our 
altars in unbecoming postures, and particularly those worldly 
women who, in immodest postures and an air of vanity, approach 
contemptuously the sanctuary in W'hich the sacred Body of Jesus 
reposes. 

Francis placed some of his religious near Mount Gargano 
and in some other parts, after which he came to Gubbio, 
where he cured a woman, the sinews of w^hose hands w^ere 
contracted 

Near Gubbio, a soldier called Benvenuto, asked to be admitted 
into the Order ; he was admitted as a lay-brother, wdth directions 
to wait upon the lepers. Profound humility, implicit obedience, 
an ardent charity, the love of poverty and of silence, assiduity in 
prayer, perfect patience in sickness, and a tender devotion to the 
Blessed Sacrament, rendered this soldier an excellent religious. 
God honored him with so many miracles during his lifetime and 
after his death, which happened in the year 1232, that Pope 
Gregory IX had information taken on the subject, in 1236, 
through the bishops of Malfi, Molfetta, and Venosa, and permitted 
these three dioceses to allot to him an office, which is now said by 
the w4iole Order of Friars Minor, on the 27th of June.| 

There lived, between Gubbio and Massa, an old advocate of 
the Roman court, calied Bartholomew Baro, w^ho had retired 
thither to avoid the tumults and dangers of the \vorld, and lived 
in great reputation of sanctity. Francis, delighted at what he had 
heard of him, wished to see him. They discoursed on spiritual 
things, and Ilartholomew, hearing that there was a Third Order, 
willingly entered into it. The holy Founder who saw that great 
prudence was associated with his consummate piety, placed 



* The learned Mabillon is far from thinking as M. Baillet does; he has 
admitted the truth of this apparition, which is authorized by the traditions of 
the country, and by the Roman Maityrology of the 8th of May. See " Acta, 
SS. Ord. S. l>ened.," Sec. 3, pars i, ]\ 85. nat. A. 

t Mount Gargano, now called S. Angelo's Mount, is in the kingdom of 
Naples, in the province of CapitanaLe, near Manfredonia, a town built from 
the ruins of Siponte. 

I Kaynald. nd. nnn. 1256. n. 28. Martyr, h^anc. 27 June. 



26o , S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

confidence in him for the affairs of his Order,* and lefi some of 
his religious with him. 

St. Antoninus relates, f that Bartholomew had in his hermitage 
a man possessed by the devil, who was incessantly talking, but 
who did not speak a word during the three days that Francis was 
there. After his departure he recommenced talking, and Bartho- 
lomew having asked him why, during the stay of Francis, he had 
kept silence : '' It was," he said, ^'because God had so tied his 
tongue that it was out of his power to speak a single word/' 
**How is it, then," replied Bartholomew : " is Francis so great a 
man, that his presence has such an effect .f^" *^ Truly," rejoined the 
demoniac, ''his virtue is so great, that all the world will see in 
him most wonderful things. It is not long since our prince called 
us all together, and told us that God, w^ho in all times had sent 
men for the conversion of sinners, has similar designs in regard to 
this man, and that Jesus Christ proposes to renew His passion in 
a pure man such as Francis is, in order to imprint it in the hearts 
from whence it is obliterated." 

As this was said two years before Francis received the stigmata, 
it would seem that the prince of darkness had some knowledge of 
the favors I which Jesus Christ intended to confer on Francis. St. 
Augustine says,§ that the Son of God made Himself known to 
the demons on earth, making certain signs to them of His pre- 
sence ; but that it was only as much as He thought proper, and 
that He made use of it, when necessary to inspire them with terror; 
and that, at other times, He left them in doubt as to His divinity. 
According to this doctrine, it might be said that God, to confound 
the demons, had made known to their chief His intention to 
renew the passion of Jesus Christ in the person of Francis, with- 
out informing him in what manner this was to happen, for it is- 
certain that this spirit of darkness, neither by his natural lights, 
nor by conjectures, had the means of discovering a favor which 
solely depended on the Divine will. 

At length, having labored for the salvation of souls with great 
fatigue, nearly the whole year, the holy Patriarch returned to his 
dear home, St. Mary of the Angels, to attend more immediately 
to his own sanctification. He there received Brother Caesar of 
Spire, who had returned from Germany, and the subject of whose 

* Although St. Francis had no law-suits, and certainly would not have any, 
yet he knew very well that in the government of a religious body, it was 
often necessary to seek information in canonical jurisprudence, and some- 
times even in the civil. Thus, the confidence he placed in this talented 
advocate for the affairs of his Order, shows the excellence of his judgment. 

t Chronic, part iii, tit. 24. cap. 7, J 3. 

X Matt, iv, 3, and viii, 29. Luke, iv, 34 and 41. 

5 St. Aug. de Civ. Dei, lib. ix, cap. 31. St. Thorn, i part, quaest. 64, art. 
I ; et in 2, sent. dist. 1 7, quaest. 2, art. 2. 



S. FRANCIS or ASSISI. 26 1 

mission we must now resume, having lost sight of it since the 
year 1221. 

This zealous missionary left Italy with twenty-seven companions, 
divided into small parties, and before the feast of St. Michael, they 
arrived successfully at Trent, where they remained fifteen days, 
during which the bishop provided liberally for all their wants. 
On the day of the festival, Caesar preached to the clergy, and 
Barnabas to the people. An inhabitant of the town, named Pel- 
legrino, was so moved by Barnabas's discourse, that he had all 
the brethren newly clothed, and shortly afterwards he sold all his 
property, gave it to the poor, and took the same habit himself 

Caesar left some of the brethren at Trent, exhorting them to the 
practice of patience and humility, and then set out .with the 
remainder. In their way they attended with greater interest to 
spiritual than temporal wants, although they had commissioned 
some of their companions to provide what was necessary for them. 
The bishop of Trent, whom they found at Posen, detained them 
for some days, and gave them leave to preach in the whole of his 
diocese. From thence they went to Brixen, where the bishop re- 
ceived them very charitably ; but from thence they had much to 
suffer in the mountains, where they could procure nothing to eat, 
after long and fatiguing marches, and were reduced to feed upon 
wild fruits, and even then they had a scruple of tasting these on 
Friday morning, because it was, by their rule, a fast, although they 
had slept in the open air, and had had scarcely anything to eat the 
preceding day. But God supported them, and they reached 
Augsburg, where the bishop embraced them all, and gave them 
special marks of his benevolence. They were equally well 
received by the vidame, his nephew, who was so kind as to give up 
to them his dwelling. The whole of the clergy showed them 
great consideration. And among the people there were none 
who did not show them respect and affection, and their teaching 
did much good. 

In 1 22 1, near the feast of St. Gall, which is on the sixteenth 
of October, Caesar assembled the first chapter of the Order which 
had been held in Germany ; there were about thirty of his 
brethren, whom he distributed in several provinces of this vast 
country. Some were sent to Wurtzburg, Mentz, Worms, Spire, 
and Cologne, where they exerted themselves with much success 
for the salvation of souls, and built convents. Giordano was sent 
with two companions to Saltzburg, and the archbishop of that 
city received them with great benevolence. Three others went to 
Ratisbon, where they founded one excellent establishment. The 
provincial followed them, animating them by word and exaniple. 
While at Wurtzburg, he gave the habit of the Friars Mmor 
to a young man of good family, named Hartmod, who had had a 



2(^)2 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

good education, and he called him Andrew, because the day of 
his reception was that of the holy apostle. And having taken 
holy orders some time after, he became a celebrated preacher, 
and was the first warden in Saxony. Rodinger was also admitted 
into the Order, who was afterwards warden of the convent of 
Halberstad, and director of St. Elizabeth of Hungaiy, before 
Dr. Conrad of Marburg. 

In 1222, Caesar, having received a great number of novices, 
some of whom were made priests, assembled a chapter at Worms, 
and finding that the Order was taking solid root in Germany, he 
instituted as vice-provincial, Thomas de Celano, and returned 
into Italy with Simon de Collazon, who had preferred the humble 
state of Friar Minor to the nobility of his birth. The reason of 
Caesar s return was the anxious desire he had to see once more his 
holy Patriarch, and his companions in the valley of Spoleto, with 
whom he was intimately united through virtue. He was a man 
greatly attached to contemplation, veiy zealous for holy poverty, 
and highly esteemed by his brethren, who, after their holy Father, 
looked up to him above any other. 

The religious whom he had left in Germany pursued their 
mission with great success. Even in this year, or shortly after, 
they penetrated, with the Friars Preachers, into the kingdom of 
Sweden, and into some other countries of the north, according to 
the testimony of John the Great, Archbishop of Upsal, and Legate 
of the Holy See,* who notices this circumstance in the history of 
his church. 

This prelate remarks that one of the first who entered the 
institute of the Friars Minor, was Laurence Octavius, an illustrious 
man, whose conversion made so much sensation, that it drew into 
the order many persons of high rank. The poor habit which he 
wore, and which he honored by his splendid virtues, and parti- 
cularly the love of suffering, did not render it less venerable than 
his science, his eloquence, his prudence, and his great talent for 
preaching, which caused him to shine in the eyes of the world, 
and which had the effect of being of the greatest service to religion f 
throughout the country, as the historian remarks. J 

Octavius could not avoid giving his consent, in the year 1244 
or 1245, to the election which was unanimously made of his 
person, by the clergy and people, for the archbishopric of Upsal, 
which was confirmed by Lmocent IV. In this dignity, he con- 
tinued to live the life of a true Fiiar Minor, and did so much for 
the salvation of his flock, as well as for the benefit of the whole 

* Hist. Ups., lib. ii, sub fin. t Ibid. 

tThe Swedes received the faith in the ninth century, but it did not spread 
through ihe whole country at the same time. Hist. Joan. Magn. lib. v. cap. 
17. liaron. ad. ann. 826, n. 42. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASS IS L 26^ 

kingdom, during the interregnum which followed the death of 
King Eiricbalde, and for the election of his successor, that, if 
heresy had not destroyed in Sweden all sentnuents of piety with 
the light of faith, his memory would still be honored there as one 
of their greatest as well as holiest persons. He died a saintly 
death, in the year 1267, and chose to be buried among the Friars 
Minor, with whom he would have wished to have spent his life. 

While the Institute of St. Francis thus flourished m Germany 
and in the North, a treasure was discovered in Italy, which had 
been up to this time overlooked. It was the great St. Anthony 
of Padua, who was leading a hidden life in the hermitage of St, 
Paul near Bologna. 

His superior sent him, with some others, to Forli, in Romagna, 
to take orders. There were also some Friars Preachers there. 
Being assembled together at the hour of conference, the superior* 
of the place requested the Friars Preachers to give them an exhor- 
tation. As they excused themselves because they were not pre- 
pared, he turned to Anthony, and without being aware of the 
depth of his learning, he ordered him to say whatever the Holy 
Spirit should suggest to him. Anthony replied with great humility 
that he was ill fitted for such a task, and that he was much more 
qualified for cleaning the plates than for preaching. However, 
yielding to the superior's reiterated order, he began to discourse 
with simplicity and timidity ; but God, proposing to place con- 
spicuously the lamp which was hidden under the bushel,* he 
continued his discourse with so much eloquence, and showed 
himself to possess so profoundly learned a doctrine, that the audi- 
ence was most agreeably surprised, and admitted that they had 
never heard anything to equal it ; and they did not know which 
most to admire, his learning or his humility. 

It was, indeed, requisite to be possessed of rare and extraor- 
dinary humility, to hide with so much care such sublime learning, 
and talents so varied ; for Anthony had earnestly requested the 
guardian of the convent in which he was, to employ him in clean- 
ing the plates and dishes, and in sweeping the house. This man, 
who, according to the saying of the apostle, was ''A vessel of 
honor, sanctified and profitable to the Lord, prepared unto every 
good worli,"f treated himself, and wished to be considered by his 
companions, as one of the vilest amongst men. He was deserving 
of the highest place, and took the very lowest. He was so deeply 
versed in the lioly Scriptures, that his memory served him as a 
book ; and he penetrated so well into the most obscure passages 



* An author says that it was the Bishop of Forli, whose name was Albert 
Act. SS. Vit. Sanct. Anion., 13 June, p. 70S, in Annot., litt B. 
** Matt. V, 15. 
t 2 Tim. ii, 21. 



264 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

that he was the admiration of the most profound theologians ; but 
he was more anxious to be confounded with the unlearned, and 
to be unknown, than to let his learning be discovered, and to 
appear capable of instructing others. 

We may here notice a reflection of St. Bernard* on a somewhat 
similar case : " Let this passage be remarked by those who under- 
take to teach what they have not learnt themselves ; seeking for 
scholars, without having had masters, they are the blind leading 
the bhnd.f But justice is done them ; although it is admitted 
that they have some talent, it is soon found that they have nothing 
solid, and they are treated with contempt.'' 

The fortunate discover}^ that was thus made of the talents of 
Anthony, soon reached the ears of Francis, who ordered him to 
apply himself to the pulpit. He desired, however, that the 
preacher, in order to exercise his ministry with the greatest effect, 
should study theology at Vercelli, under the abbot of St. Andrew, 
who gave lessons with great reputation, and who is supposed to 
have been the celebrated Doctor Thomas, a canon regular of the 
abbey of St. Victor of Paris, who was sent to be the first abbot of 
the abbey of St. Andrew of Vercelli, which was founded about 
the year 1220. Anthony had for a fellow-student another Friar 
Minor, named Adam de Marisco, an Englishman, who was after- 
wards a doctor of the university of Oxford, the holiness of whose 
Hfe, whose learning, and whose writings rendered him famous 
throughout the whole realm of England, and who was subse- 
quently elected bishop of Ely. J 

The application which Anthony gave to the study of theology, 
did not prevent his preaching during the Lent at Milan, and at 
other times in some parts of the duchy. § But his preaching was 
no hindrance to his studies, because the lights he had previously 
acquired, and those he received from above, together with his 
splendid talents, gave him an insight into the most sublime truths. 
His progress was so quick and so great, that his master often 
declared, that he learnt many things from his scholar. Speaking 
of the book of the celestial hierarchy which he was explaining, he 
said that his scholar ran over the several orders of blessed spirits 
with so much precision, and a penetration so surprising, that it 
might have been thought that the whole heavenly host passed 
before him. This exalted wisdom, joined to his eminent virtues, 
induced his illustrious preceptor to give him the name of Saint, 
and to apply our Blessed Lord's eulogy of St. John Baptist to 
him : " He was a burning and a shining light. "1| 

"* Vit. St. Malach. c. ii, n. 4. t Matt, xv, 14. 

t Hist. Chron. Pedemont. cap. 36. Franc. Aug. a Basil. St. Petr., apud 
Act. SS. supra, p. 729. in Annt^t., lilt. B. 

J Lilt. A. Wading. Scr. Ord. Min. Act. SS. ib. p. 730, litt. C. H Joan, v, 35. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSIST. 265 

Anthony was applied to by his fellow-students to communicate 
to them the learning in which he abounded, and to give lessons in 
the convent, but he would not take upon himself to exercise the 
functions of master, without having first consulted the holy Founder 
of the Order. He wrote to him on the subject, and received the 
following answer : 

''To my dear Brother Anthony, Brother Francis sends greeting 
in Jesus Christ. 

'' I entirely approve of your teaching the brethren sacred theol- 
ogy ; in such a manner, however, that the spirit of prayer be not 
extinguished in you or in them, according to the rule which we 
profess. Adieu.'' "*" 

This is a proof that Francis was not hostile to study, but that 
he only wished it to be conducted in a religious manner, without 
prejudice to piety. Anthony, having obtained leave, taught first 
at Montpellier, and then at Bologna, where studies were again set 
on foot, to which disobedience had put a stop, as has been said ; 
then he taught at Padua, at Toulouse, and in other places where 
he was stationed : always joining to this holy exercise, that of 
preaching with wonderful success. 

At the time when he began taking lessons from the Abbot of 
Vercelli, the most celebrated doctor of the university of Paris took 
the habit of the Friars Minor. This was Alexander d'Hales or 
d'Hels, or Hales, thus named from the place of his birth^ in the 
county of Gloucester, where, fi'om the year 1246, Richard, Earl 
of Cornwall, had founded a convent of the Order of Citeaux.f 
Having gone through his course of humanities in England, he 
came to Paris, where he studied philosophy and theology, took a 
doctor's degree, taught, and was universally admired. J 

St. Antoninus § believes that what led to his vocation was that, 
havmg made a vow to grant, if he possibly could, whatever should 
be asked of him for the love of the Blessed Virgin, for whom he 
had a singular devotion, a person who was questing for the 
Friars Minor, came and said to him : " It is quite long enough 
that you have been laboring for the world, and you have acquired 
celebrity in it. I entreat you, for the love of God, and of the 

* Act. SS. supra, p. 728 et 730, in Annot. litt. F. Reg. Frat. Min. c 5. 

t Others write this name D'Al^s. In the " Monasticon AngHcanum,'' on 
the subject of the foundation of this monastery, Dugdale writes " In mancrio 
de Hayles," and names it, '' Ilaylesense monastcrium." Monast. Anglic, 
tom. i, p. 928, edit. 1682. In Latin, he is called Alensis, 

t According to the custom of those times, which was to give titles of honor 
to men of learning, he was called the Irrefragal)le Doctor ; Doctor of Doctors; 
Fountain of Life. Wading ad ann. 1245, n. 19. 

i Chron. part, iii, tit 24, ch. 8, ^ I. 

12 



266 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 



Blessed Virgin, to enter into our Order, ^vhich you will honor, and 
you will sanctify yourself.'" Tlie doctor was surprised at this re- 
quest, but God touched his heart, and he replied to the brother : 
*'I shall follow you very soon ; and shall do as you wish :" and 
shortly after, he took the habit of a Friar i\Iinor. Others, however, 
are of opinion, that he was induced to quit the world by the ex- 
ample of his fellow-countr}-man, John of St. Gilles, an illustrious 
doctor, who, preaching one day to the clerg}^, with great energy, on 
voluntary poverty, in the convent of the Friars Preachers, descended 
from the pulpit in the middle of his sermon, and in order to give 
force to his words by his example, he took the habit of St. Dominic, 
and returned to the pulpit to finish his discourse.* 

However this may be, the holy life and happy death of Alex- 
ander Hales in the Order of St. Francis, bore testimony to his 
having been called by God. It is said that, at first, the practices 
were difficult to him, and that some interior sufiering made him 
think of leaving the Order, f but that, in this agitation, he saw in 
spirit Francis bearing a hea\y wooden cross, and endeavoring to 
carr}' it up a very steep hill ; that he offered to assist him, but that 
the holy Patriarch spurned his aid indignantly, saying, ' '' Begone, 
you feeble man : you have not the courage to bear your own light 
cross, and you would attempt to bear this heavy one ! " And this 
vision having enlightened the doctor who was a novice, he was 
delivered entirely from the temptation under which he labored. 

He continued to teach with the same repute ; and the faculty 
of theolog}', to do honor to his merits, gave him the privilege of 
presenting for a doctor's degree one of his brethren and disciples ; 
which he did the first time, by an interior revelation, in favor of 
Brother John de la Rochelle, who afterwards became ver^^ cele- 
brated. J Alexander had many other disciples distinguished both 
for their learning and their piety, but there are none who have 
done more honor to his instructions than St. Bonaventure, 
and, according to the opinion of many authors, St. Thomas § 



1 



I 



* Hist. Angel. Harpsfielcl, Sc^c. 13, cap. 1 1. Chron. Xic. Triv. : in Scilip 
Dacher., torn, viii, p. ^73. f St. Anton, supra. t Id. ibid. 

§ Both the Popes Sixtus IV and Sixtus V, notice in their Bulls that St. 
Bonaventure and St. Thomas Aquinas were fellow-students. Cardinal 
Bellarmine, Possevin, and Labbe, of the Society of Jesus ; Nicholas Harps- 
field, Archdeacon of Canterbury, and John Pits, an English Doctor, Spond, 
and many others, say that these two saints were disciples of Alexander Hales. 
Bzovius, a Polish Dominican, speaks in precise terms on that head in his 
''Annales Eccl^siastiques," tom. 13. ad. ann. 1250, n. ii. *'Discipulos ille 
(Alexander Halensis) habuit duos, Divos Bonaventuram et Thomam Aqui- 
natem." 

This is a circumstance in which there are many chronological difficulties. 
Some maintain it, others deny it. — The continuators of BoUandus, 14 July, 
Comment, praev. in Vit. St. Bonav. § 3, are puzzled by the contradictory 
evidence produced by Wading and by Echard, and they do not decide the 



S. FKAXCiS Ob A:5SISI. 267 

Aquinas.* Among his writings, which are veiy numerous, and on 
all sorts of subjects, his Summa is much esteemed, in which, by 
order of Pope Innocent IV, f he arranged methodically the theo- 
logical subjects. J This is the first Summa which was compiled, 
and it has served as a model for all others. Pope Alexander IV § 
spoke in the highest terms, both of the author and of his work. 

Gerson, chancellor of the university of Paris, in speaking of 
Alexander's doctrine, expresses himself as follows : || "It is not to 
be told how many excellent things it contains. I declare to 
have read in a treatise, that some one having asked St. Thomas 
what was the best mode of studying theology, he replied, ^To 
study the work? of a single theologian ; ' and being asked what 
theologian it was desirable to fix on, he named Alexander Hales. 
Thus/' continues Gerson, ''the writings of St. Thomas, and prin- 
cipally ^ the Seconda Secondae, show how familiar the works and 
doctrine of Alexander were to him. '' 



difficulty. On this, as on the opinions of the Schools, people may dispute, 
but it should be with good temper. In consequence of not having adhered 
to this principle, Father Noel iilexander was blamed by his own friends in 
1680, and Echard by the authors of the ** Memoires de Trevoux," in 1722. — 
See Supplem. de Script. Eccles. P. Casim. Oudin. p. 510. Me'm. de Trevoux, 
1722. Jan. Art. 3. * Wading ad ann. 1245, n. 19, et seq. 

t Trithemius, Bellarmine, Possevin, Labbe, and many others, say this : and 
it is the more probable, as certainly Pope Alexander, or his successor, ordered 
the superiors of the Friars Minor to complete the Summa which Alexander 
Hales had in dying left imperfect. 

t Assermet. Theol. tom. ii. Qusest. Prooem. 

§ Echard gives us the Brief of Alexander IV. Script. Ord. Pjaedic. tom. 
i, p. 321, col, I. In it the Pope directs the Superiors of the Friars Minor, 
in virtue of holy obedience, to complete the Summa of Alexander Hales ; he 
says that this Summa is a river, having its sources in Paradise, a treasure of 
science and wisdom, full of irrefragable sentences, which crush falsehood by 
the force of truth, that it is highly useful to those who seek to make progress 
in the knowledge of the divine law: that it is the work of God, and can only 
be attributed to celestial wisdom ; that the author could not have composed 
it, without having been full of God, and inspired with the Holy Spirit. Popes 
Sixtus IV and Sixtus V have not given less praise to the doctrine of St. 
Bonaventure ; and other Sovereign Pontiffi; have given similar praise to that 
of St. Thomas. They had in view the doctrine of the Church, explained, 
cleared up, and methodically propounded by those illustrious Doctors for the 
instruction of the faithful, and for confuting heretics, and in no ways private 
opinions, upon which they frequently differ, and which the Church thinks 
proper to leave open to the Schools as long as they have nothing in them 
which docs not disagree with orthodox dogmas. See the 9th letter of the 
author of '' Reflexions sur le 15ref de notre Saint V6vc Ic l'a})e Benoit xiii, 
aux Dominicains," addressed to the author of "Thomisme Triumphant,'' p. 
40, 1727. This letter and the preceding ones were printed at Ypres, with 
a])pr()bation, by P. I. Rave. 

II Gerson, in Epist. de Laudibus Bonav. tom. i, p. 554. Edit. Paris. 1606, 
ct Fdit. nov. tom. I, p. 117. 

1[ riiis j^nssage is of itself sufficient to prove that A. Hales composed a 
Summa of the virtues, and that Gerson had read it. Many authors leckon it 



268 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

So that learned men entered the Order of Friars Minor, as St. 
Francis had foretold ; and this is the reason why he recommended 
that prayer should be joined to study, lest learning should 
obliterate piety. 

The indulgence granted to St. Mary of the Angels, or the 
Portiuncula, two years previous to this time, had not yet had the 
day fixed on which the faithful could gain it. Francis waited till 
Jesus Christ, who first conceded so precious a boon, should 
Himself mark the day, nor was he disappointed. It occurred as 
follows : 

One night, when he was praying in his cell, at St. Mary of the 
Angels, in the beginning of the year 1223, the tempter suggested 
to him not to watch and pray so much, but rather to adopt other 
modes of penance, because, from his age, more sleep and rest was 
absolutely necessary^ for him, and these watchings would be his 
death. Being aware of the malice of his infernal enemy, he 
retired to the woods, and threw himself naked into a bush of 
briars and thorns, till he was covered with blood. ''For," said 
he to himself, ''it is much better that I should suffer these pains 
with Jesus Christ, than that I should follow the advice of an enemy 
who flatters me.'' 

A brilliant light which surrounded him, discovered to him a 
great number of white and red roses, although it was the month 
of Januar}', and ihe winter was very severe. This was an effect 
of the power of God, who had changed the briars into rose-trees, 
which have ever since been evergreen and without thorns. 

Angels, who appeared in great numbers, said to him : "Francis, 
hasten to return to the Church, Jesus Christ is there, together 
with His blessed Mother." At the same time, he perceived him- 
self miraculously clothed with a new habit of pure white ; he 
gathered twelve roses of each color, and went to the Church. 
After a profound adoration he addressed the following prayer to 
Jesus Christ, under the protection of the most Blessed Virgin : 
"j\Iost holy Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Saviour of man, 
deign, through Thy great mercy, to fix the day of the indulgence 
which Thou hast been pleased to grant to this sacred place." 

Our Lord answered him, that it was His desire that it should be 
from the evening of the vigil of the day when St. Peter the apostle 
was delivered from his chains, to the evening of the following day. 
Francis, again asking in what manner this should be publicly 
made known, and whether his own assertion would be given credit 
to, he was directed to present himself before the vicar of Jesus 



among his works, and T. de la Caille, in his "History of the Press," says 
that it was printed at Paris, by J. le Petit, in 1509. If it is not now to be 
found, it is only the fate of many other works besides that one. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 269 

Christ, to take with him some white and red roses as testimonials 
of the truth of the fact, to take with him some of his brethren, 
who would testify to what they had heard ; for, from their cells 
which were near the church, they had, indeed, heard all that had 
been said. Then the angels sang the hymn ' ' Te Deum laudamus. '' 
Francis took three roses of each color in honor of the most Blessed 
Trinity, and the vision disappeared. 

This wonderful vision was attested to by his companions ; but 
it is only necessary here to remark, that the critics, who are hostile 
to all that is marvellous, cannot say that there is anything in this 
which is incredible. At the marriage of Cana our Lord changed 
water into wine. "^ At his transfiguration, ^^his garments became 
white as snow,''f that is to say, brilliant as the shining light which 
emanated from his whole body. At His birth a multitude of the 
heavenly army. appeared to the shepherds, ''praising God, and say- 
ing, Glory to God in the highest,'' etc. J Could He not, then, in 
honor of His servant, change the briars into rose-trees, and clothe 
him with celestial light, to manifest the purity of his soul, and 
cause the angels to sing a hymn of the Church in thanksgiving 
for the favor He had just granted to man ? In the revelation of 
the relics of St. Stephen, the first martyr, which was made to 
Lucian, a priest of the Church of Jerusalem, which is one of the 
most celebrated events of the fifth century, and which has ever 
been considered so true and credible a narrative, that the universal 
Church has assigned a special festival in its commemoration, on 
the third day of August, v;hen the relics of the holy martyr are 
seen as shown to Lucian by the blessed Gamaliel, under the figure 
of a golden basket filled with red roses ; and in order to point out 
the bodies of other saints which were in the same place, other 
golden baskets were shown to him filled with white roses. Now, if 
it pleased God to represent the martyrdom of St. Stephen § by red 
roses, and his charity, which was the cause of it, by a basket of 
gold, could He not also chose that the appearance of white and red 
roses, in the middle of winter, should be a miraculous proof of 
the indulgence which He granted to Francis, and the whole together 
a sensible representation of the effect it produces, which is, to 
purify souls by the application of the merits of Jesus Christ, accord- 
ing to the words of the Apocalypse ? ' ' They washed their robes and 
have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'' || 

Francis, accompanied by Brothers Bernard de Quintavalle, Peter 
of Catania, and Angelus of Ricti, set out for Rome, where he re- 
lated to the Pope all that had happened at St. Mary of the Angels, 

**John, ii, 9. t Matt, xvii, 2. t I-uke, iii, 13, 14. 

4 Epist. J^ucian. De Revel. Corp. Sleph. Mart. n. 4, ad C'alc. torn. Oper. 
St. Alio-. II .Xpoc. vii. 14. 



270 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

in proof whereof, he presented to him the roses he had brought, 
and his companions testified to what they had heard. The Pope, 
astonished to see such beautiful and sweet-smelHng roses in the 
depth of winter, said : '' As to myself, I believe the truth of what 
you tell me, but it is a matter which must be submitted to the 
cardinals for their opinions. '' In the meantime, he directed his 
attendants to see that they should not want for anything. 

The next day, they came before the Consistory, where Francis, 
by the Pope's desire, said, in presence of the cardinals : ^' The will 
of God is that whosoever shall, with a contrite and humble heart, 
after having confessed his sins, and received absolution by a priest, 
enter the Church of St. i\Iar\^ of the Angels, in the diocese of 
Assisi, between the first vespers of the first day of August and the 
vespers of the second day, shall obtain an entire remission of all the 
sins he may have committed from his baptism until that moment." 
The Sovereign Pontiff, seeing that the words of Francis were not 
thought to have any deceit in them, having conferred with the 
cardinals thereon for some time, confirmed the indulgence. And 
he subsequently sent to the bishops of Assisi, Perugia, Todi, Spo- 
leto, Foligno, Nocera, and Gubbio, to meet at the Church of St. 
Mary of the Angels, on the first of August of that year, and 
there solemnly to publish this indulgence. 

All these prelates met on the day specified, and having mounted 
a large platform, * which had been prepaied outside of the church, 
they made Francis mount there also, to explain to the assembly, 
which w^as \try numerous and gathered from all parts of the 
country, the cause of their meeting. He spoke with so much 
ferv^or that it seemed to be rather an angel who addressed the 
meeting than a man, and he ended his discourse by announcing 
the plenary and perpetual indulgence which God and the Sovereign 
Pontiff granted to this church eveiy year on that day. The 
bishops were not satisfied with his publishing it to be in perpetuity. 
''Brother Francis,'"' they said, " although the Pope desires us to 
do on this occasion whatever you wish, it is not, however, his in- 
tention that we should do things which are not suitable ; therefore 
you must give notice that the indulgence is only to last for ten 
years." The Bishop of Assisi was the first to restrict it to this 
time, but he could not help saying, as St. Francis had, ''in per- 
petuity.'"' The other bishops endeavored successively to announce 
this restriction, but God permitted that, without intending it, they 
should all say, "in perpetuity." By this, they were made sensible 



* Wading says that they still preserve, respectfully, pieces of the wood 
which supported this platform, and they are shown through a grating under 
the altar in a beautiful chapel, which has been built on the spot, near which 
is n gardei of vose-Xree>. evergreen, and without thorns. .\d ann, 1223, n. 2. 



S. FKAN'CIS OF ASSISI. 27 1 

of the will of God, and willingly proclaimed the indulgence to be 
perpetual. 

Many of those who were at the sermon preached by Francis, have 
left testimony in writing to the effect, that he had in his hand a 
small scroll on which was written these words: "1 wish you all to 
go to Paradise. I announce to you a plenaiy indulgence which I 
have obtained from the goodness of our heavenly Father, and from 
the mouth of the Sovereign Pontiff. All you who are assembled 
here to-day, and with a contrite and humble heart have confessed 
with sincerity, and have received absolution from a priest, will have 
remission of all your sins ; and in like manner, those who come 
every year with similar dispositions, will obtain the same. I wish 
it had lasted eight days, but I could not obtain it." 

Such is the way in which the famous indulgence of St. Mary of 
the Angels, or of Portiuncula, was published on the second day 
of August ; an indulgence which the Sovereign Pontiffs have since 
extended to all the churches of the Order of St. Francis. 

The seven prelates consecrated the Church of St. Maiy of the 
Angels, and performed a similar ceremony for the Church of St. 
Damian, at the request of Francis and Clare, and the remem- 
brance of this is commemorated yearly at Assisi, on the ninth of 
August. 

The benevolent feeling which Honorius III expressed to the 
holy Patriarch, when he was at Rome, for the indulgence of the 
Portiuncula, induced him to wish that this Pontiff would authorize 
solemnly the Rule of the Order, which Innocent III had only 
verbally approved, and he had in the night the following revela- 
tion, which is thus recorded by St. Bonaventure. 

It seemed to him that he had taken up from the ground some 
ver}'- small crumbs of bread, in order to distribute them to the half- 
starved brethren who surrounded him, and how, fearful lest such 
small crumbs should fall out of his hands, a heavenly voice said 
to him : ''Francis, collect all these crumbs and make a host of 
them, and give of it to such as wish to eat of it.'' He did so, and 
all those who did 'not partake of it devoutly, or treated it con- 
temptuously, after having received it, seemed to be infected with 
leprosy. In the morning, he related all this to his com})anions, 
and was distressed at not comprehending the mystery. The fol- 
lowing day, while he was at prayer, a voice from heaven said to 
him : ''Francis, the ciximbs of last night are the words of the 
Gospel, the host is the Rule, and the leprosy is iniquit\'. 

llie term of Host, to designate the Rule, is worthy of paiticular 
consideration. Its import is that, as bread without leaven, which 
is called the Host, is made oC the fmest flour, so the Rule is 
composed of what is most perfect in the Gospel ; and as this 
bread, by the words of consecration, Is changed into the body o{ 



2J2 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

Jesus Christ, the true host immolated on the altar, so those who 
make profession of the Rule, must be transformed into hosts, or 
victims, and immolate themselves to God. It is thus that St. 
Paul warns Christians, "To become as a new paste without 
leaven,'' * and to pass the whole time of their lives as a continual 
festival, "presenting their bodies a living sacrifice, holy and 
pleasing unto God."f St. Peter also says to these, that they are a 
"Spiritual house, a holy priesthood, J to offer up spiritual sacri- 
fices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." § 

The Oracle of heaven communicated to Francis that the Rule 
which he sought to have approved, and which was composed of 
sentences from the Gospel, required abridgment, and putting into 
order with greater precision. In order to effect this, he was 
inspned, after the publication of the indulgence, to go to Mount 
Col urn bo, near Rieti, where he retired into- an opening in the 
rock, with Brothers Leo and Bonzio, fasting on bread and water ; 
and this fast, according to the statement of Marianus, lasted forty 
days. There he wrote the Rule, according to the dictation of 
the Holy Spirit to him, in prayer. On his return to St. Mary o-f 
the Angels, he put it into the hands of his vicar. Brother Elias, to 
read it, and keep it. Elias thought it too severe, and some days 
afterwards, in order to suppress it, he feigned to have lost it by 
negligence. Ihe holy men returned to the same place, and 
wrote it out a second time, as if God had dictated it to him with 
His own mouth. 

The vicar-general communicated to some of the provincial 
ministers what had happened, and told them that the Founder 
was desirous of imposing upon them a stricter mode o-f life than 

* I Cor. V, 7, 8. t Rom. xii, 1. 

X Luther concluded from this that all Christians are by their bapiism truly 
priests, and have power to administer the Sacraments, even to consecrate the 
Body of Jesus Christ. Other innovators have since endeavored to persuade 
the Laity, and panicularly females, that all the iaithful who assist at Mass 
consecrate with the priest, and ihey have purposely given them the Ordinary 
of the Mass in Latin and the Vulgar tongue, in order that each might pro- 
nounce the words of consecration; so that there have been women who 
really believe that they consecrated. The Catholic Church teaches that this 
power is only given to priests by virtue of their character > that they alone 
are the successors of the Apostles, in the priesthood, sjid that to (hem alone, 
in the persons of the Apostles, Jesus Christ said : '' Do this in memory of 
me." \Vhen St. Peter said to the Christians that they were a holy assembly 
of priests, he speaks of a purely spiritual priesthood, taken in a very ex- 
tended sense, which consists in a self-offering as a victim, by prayer and good 
works ; which the Apostle calls spiritual victims. Such is the general and 
common priesthood which is proper for all the faithful, and not the priest- 
hood, which is peculiar to, and appertains, solely, to priests. Luther. De 
Miss, privat., De captiv. Babylon., De institut. minist. Eccles. Concil. Nic. 
can. 14. Concil. Trident, sess. 22. cap. I. Bellarmin. de Sacram. in gen. 
cap. 24, 25. § I Petr. ii, 5. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 273 

that to which they had hitherto adhered. They concerted to- 
gether what they should do to avert this, and it was agreed that 
EHas, as vicar-general, should go and represent to him the 
inconvenience of such increased austerity, and the objections of 
his brethren. Elias, who was aware of the firmness of Francis in 
these matters, and had been severely rebuked by him on other 
occasions, acknowleged that he did not dare execute this com- 
mission alone, but he offered to accompany them for the common 
cause, and they consented to this arrangement. 

While they were drawing near to the mountain, Francis had a 
revelation of what was passing. When they had reached the top, 
he left the opening of the rock quickly, and demanded of Elias 
what he and all these ministers who were with him wanted. Elias, 
with downcast eyes, and trembling, said, in a low tone of voice : 
'^ These ministers, having learnt that you were about to give 
them a new Rule above the strength of man to endure, have 
engaged me to come here, in my capacity of vicar-general, to 
entreat you to modify it, because fhey will not receive it, if it is 
too austere." 

At these w^ords, the Saint, in great emotion and shuddering, 
raised his eyes to heaven and exclaimed : ' ^ Lord, did I not say 
that these people would not believe me.? As to myself, I will 
keep this Rule to the day of my death, with those of my com- 
panions who love poverty ; but I shall not have it in my power to 
compel those who do not choose it, and who make so much 
resistance. " 

Jesus Christ appeared in a luminous cloud above Francis, and 
said, so that all heard him : ^'Little man, w^hy are you discon- 
tented, as if this was your work ? It is I who have dictated the 
Rule ; no part of it is yours. I insist on its being literally 
observed to the very letter — to the very letter, without gloss or 
comment. I know what frail man can endure, and what support 
I can and will give him. Let those who will not keep the Rule 
leave the Order ; I will raise up others in their place ; and if it be 
requisite, I will bring them forth from these stones."* 

Then Francis, from the top of the rock on which he had knelt 
down, addressed these words to the vicar-general and to the 
others, who were greatly alarmed, ''You now know that your 
conspiracy has been solely an opposition to the will of God, and 
that instead of taking into consideration what He can do for us, 
you have only consulted tlie feeble light of your human prudence. 
Have you heard, have you, yourself, heard the voice which came 
forth from the cloud, and which spoke so audibly? If it did not 
resound in your ears, I will take steps to cause you to hear it once 

* MaU. iii. 9. 



274 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



more." Upon this, Elias and his companions, astounded and 
beside themselves, retired without saying a single word. 

The holy Patriarch having returned to join his faithful children 
in the small fissure of the rock, in which they lay prostrate at the 
voice of the Lord, said to them : ''Rise up now, and fear nothing, 
but as true soldiers of Jesus Christ put on the armor of God, in 
order to be on your guard against the snares which the devil will 
not fail to throw in the way of your following Him."* He left 
the mountain and went to the nearest convent to show the Rule 
to his brethren, intending to communicate it afterwards to the 
others, in order to know what each one thought of it. His 
countenance, animated and shining, was a manifestation that God 
himself had dictated to him the rule of life which he proposed 
to them. It was a striking representation of Moses coming down 
from Mount Sinai, his face shining brightly, f The resemblance 
cannot be too mpch admired in its several relations. Moses, after 
a fast of forty days, received, on a mountain, the Law which God 
gave him. [j; Jesus Christ having fasted forty days, was on a 
mountain when He taught that doctrine which embraces, as St. 
Augustine observes, all the perfection of the Christian life. § And 
it was on a mountain that it was His pleasure to give His servant 
Francis, who fasted rigorously, a Rule in which the perfection of 
the evangelical life is contained, as if it was intended to show, as 
the Holy Fathers think, by the elevation of the place, the sublimity 
of the sort of life. These fortunate resemblances are undoubtedly 
most honorable to the Patriarch and his children, but the glory is 
to God alone. 

Some having read the Rule, said to Francis, that it was neces- 
S3,ry that his Order should have something in common, as the 
other religious Orders had ; seeing that the number of the brethren 
was already very great, and that, according to all appearance, the 
Order would be so extended, that it would not be possible to exist 
in so restricted a state of poverty. The Saint returned to the place 
he had left, and having had recourse to prayer, he consulted Jesus 
Christ, the true Legislator, who gave the following reply: ''It 
is I who am their portion and their inheritance, I do not choose 
that they should be encumbered with the things of this world. || 
Provided they adhere strictly to the Rule, and that they place 
their confidence in me, I will take care of them ; I will not 
suff'er them to stand in need of anything necessary to life ; the 
more their numbers increase, the more will I manifest my 
providence to them. " ^ 

* Eph. vi. 13. t Exod. xxxiv. 29, 30. \. Ibid. v. 28. 

§ Math. cap. iv. 2. et cap. v. i. et seq. St. Aug. de Serm. Dom. in montC; 
cap. i, n. I. II Psalm, xv, 5. Ij Psalm, liv, 25. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 275 

We must here render to that adorable and loving Providence 
the justice due to it. It has never been wanting to the Order of 
St. Francis, and they have never had greater proofs of His care 
than when they have chosen to live most poorly. We see verified 
to the letter, in these poor evangelical brethren, the imitators of 
Jesus Christ crucified, what is said in the twenty-first psalm, in 
which the Son of God has clearly foretold His Passion : ''The 
poor shall eat and shall be filled, and they shall praise the Lord 
that seek Him, their hearts shall live forever and ever.'' ^ Were 
He now to ask the religious of St. Francis, as He asked the apos- 
tles : ''When I sent you without purse, or scrip, and shoes, did 
you want for anything?''! There is not one who Vv'ould not 
answer as they did: "No, we have not wanted for anything." 
For a poor evangelical brother is bound to consider himself as not 
wanting anything while he lives, and to look upon having nothing 
but what is necessary as the treasure of his state of life. 

A religious Order which, without any revenue, maintains many 
thousand men, was a subject of admiration for an infidel prince, 
and the Founder was considered by him as a very great man. He 
was not aware of the cause of this wonderful efiect, but religion 
teaches us that it is God himself who provides for the wants of 
His servants, by the charity with which He inspires the faithful. 

Francis communicated to the ministers what our Lord had said 
to him. They submitted to everything, and returned with him to 
St. Mary of the Angels, where the Rule was approved by the 
brethren who were there, and was sent into the provinces to be 
examined before it was submitted for confirmation. It contains 
twelve chapters, of which the. following is the substance. 

The first chapter is expressed in these terms: "The Rule and 
the Life of the Friars Minor consist in the observance of the Gospel 
of our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience, withoiu 
property, and chastely. Brother Francis promises obedience and 
reverence to our most Holy Father Pope Plonorius, and to his 
successors canonically elected, and to the Roman Church. Lcl 
the other brethren be bound to obey Brother Francis and hi; 
successors. " 

We have before noticed the Catholicity of the holy man ; it is 
here seen, and it will everywhere be seen with similar zeal. The 
words, "Let the other brethren," etc., were not in the first Rule, 
although Francis being the founder o'i the Order, and Pope 
Innocent having appointed him general thereof, the brethren 
were bound to obey him. But there is reason to think i1u\l 
he inserted them here, in consequence of the resistance of th .' 
vicar-general, and some provincial ministers, who made some 



Psalm, xxi, 27. f l.r.kc wii, ;5. 36. 



276 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

difficulty in accepting the Rule ; besides which, it was necessary 
to notice the obedience due to the General of the Order and 
his successors. 

In the second chapter he speaks of the reception of novices, 
which he leaves solely to the provincials, who are to examine 
them strictly as to the Catholic faith and the sacraments of the 
Church. He desires the postulants may be told to sell all they 
have, and to distribute it to the poor, if possible, but that they are 
not to interfere in this distribution. Noticing in particular the 
habits of the novices, and of those who are professed, he recom- 
mends that in general all shall be poorly clad, and shall be able 
to patch their own habits ; he permits shoes to be worn in cases 
of necessity, which shows, says St. Bonaventure,* that the Friars 
Minor, except in cases of extreme necessity, should be barefooted, 
as Jesus Christ had prescribed to the apostles, f He warns the 
brethren not to look with contempt on, and not to judge those 
who are delicately clad, and who are daintily fed : "Let no one 
judge or despise any one but himself 

llie thud chapter embraces three things ; ist. That the clerks 
shall recite the Divine Office, according to the practice of the 
Roman Church ; that the laity shall recite, for each part of the Di- 
vine Office, a certain number of times the Lord's Prayer, J and pray 
for the dead. 2d. That besides the periods directed by the Church, 
they shall all fast from the feast of All Saints till Christmas, || 
and all the Fridays throughout the year, which he prescribed in 
memory of Christ crucified, the great object of his devotion. He 
also proposes to his brethren a fast of forty days, beginning with 
the Epiphany, and he invites them to this, promising them the 
blessing of God for it ; but he leaves them at liberty on this head, 
and says that, in cases of evident necessity, they are not obliged 

* St. Bonav. Exp. in Reg. c. 2, et Tr. de Sand. Apost. 

t It is thus that the holy Doctor understood the passage of St. Matthew, 
X, 10. and that of St. Mark, vi, 9, as St. Jerome and St. Augustine had, 
followed by many learned expositors. St. Hier. in cap. x, Math, et in Epist. 
ad Agerach. et in Epist. ad Eustoch. de Custod. Virgin, St. August, de 
Consens. Evangel, lib. ii, cap. 30. Tostat. in cap. x, Math. Qu^est. 60, et alii. 

t St. P>ancis does not add here the Angelical Salutation to the Lord's Prayer, 
because, at that time, it was not in the Divine Office. It was not prescribed 
to the lay brothers in the Statutes of Guigues, General of the Carthusians, 
nor in the Rules of the Templars, or of the CarmeUtes. Mabillion remarks 
after Cardinal Bona, that it is only found in the Breviary of Cardinal Santa 
Croce, before that of Pope Pius V, and Cardinal Bona thinks that it was not 
in the Long Office, because it was in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, 
which was said from the loth century. Bona, de Divina Psalmodia, cap. 16, 
'^ 2. Act. SS. Old. S. Bened. sec. 5, Pra^fat. n. 117, et seq. The* Lay 
-^Brothers of the Order of St. Francis do not, however, omit to add the Angelical 
Salutation to the Lord's Prayer in their office. 

II It was formerly a common custom amongst the faithful to fast at those 
times. — Sec "Thomas in, Traite'dcs Jeunes.'^ 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 2/7 

to corporal fasting, by which he shows that a spiritual fast must be 
kept at all times, according to the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures,* 
and that of the Fathers of the Church. 3d. He exhorts them to 
have no discussions or disputes, and not to judge others when 
they go into the world, but to be meek, peaceable, modest, tract- 
able, and humble, and to speak civilly to all persons, according 
to the rules of politeness. He forbids their riding on horseback, 
unless illness or an evident necessity compel them to it. He 
directs that in whatsoever house they may enter, they shall say : 
'^ Peace to this house ; "f and he permits them to eat, according 
to the Gospel, whatever may be offered to them. 

What he had most seriously at heart is developed in the fourth 
chapter : That the brethren shall not receive money on any 
pretext whatsoever. He forbids this expressly, in conformity to 
what our Saviour said to His apostles: ''Do not possess gold, 
nor silver, nor money in your purses. " J Nevertheless, he orders 
superiors to provide carefully, by means of spiritual friends, for 
the clothing of their brethren, for their wants in sickness, as they 
shall deem it requisite, according to the seasons, the places, and 
the coM climates ; always having regard to what has already been 
said, that they are not to receive money. 

By the expression, ''spiritual friends," § the holy Founder 
means those persons to whom the Friars Minor address 
themselves in confidence as to friends in God, and whom they 
request to pay for what they cannot get without money. Now, 
notwithstanding the aversion and sort of horror which he had of 
money, he desires to have his spiritual friends induced to give it, 
or cause it to be given, for clothing his brethren, and for assisting 
them in sickness, when these things cannot be obtained in any 
other way, in order to show the better by that, how far the 
obligation of the superiors extend on this head. If, then, a 
superior of the Order of St. Francis neglects to provide for his 
brethren the clothing they might reasonably require ; if in their 
illnesses he does not give them that succor which fraternal charity 
dictates ; if he does not procure for them all the solace and 
comfort which are desirable : if he were to have recourse to 
spiritual friends, and make use of their charity for less essential 
and less needful objects, he coukl not act in a manner more in 
opposition to the views of the holy Patriarch, and in greater 
contravention of the Rule ; he would violate the two great 
precepts, of the love of God and of his neighbor, even the laws of 
humanity ; he would subject tlie brethren to severe and dangerous 



*Isaias Iviii, 3, et seq. St. Basil. Homil. I et 2, de Jejun. St. August. 
Serm. 205, n. 3, et alibi. t Math, x, 12 ; Luke x, 5 et 8. t Math, x, 9. 

»} Pet. Marchant. Expos, litt. in Rei;ul. St. Franc, cap. 4. 



278 S. FK-\N-CIS OF ASSISI. 

trials, which might effect their salvation, and he would not avoid 
the dreadful sentence which Jesus Christ will pronounce against 
those who shall have neglected Him, naked and sick, in the 
persons of the poor."^ 

Labor is recommended in the fifth chapter, but with this 
remark: ''That they are to occupy themselves in it in such 
manner as, by avoiding idleness, which is hurtful to the soul, the 
spirit 'of prayer and devotion be not extinguished, to which all 
temporal objects are to be made subsenient. '* 

On this head, the Order of the Friars Minor and the other 
mendicant orders, were attacked in the days of St. Bonaventure 
and St Thomas Aquinas, by some l^earned men, who pretended 
that these Religious ought to labor with their hands rather than to 
exercise the sacred ministries. But these two renowned theolo- 
gians replied with arguments so strong and so solid to the 
reasoning of these critics, that it is surprising that it has been 
since attempted to repeat them.*}" 

St. Bonaventure J in particular, pointed out to them that 
personal labor is not a precept of the Rule of the Friars INIinor, 
but that it was recommended by St. Francis to avoid idleness, and 
that he himself had worked so little, that nothing was ever found 
of his personal labor, during his whole life, that was of the value 
of a sixpence ; these are the precise words of the holy doctor, to 
which he added, that the lay brethren were sutHciently occupied 
in the convent and out of the convent, for the ser\'ice of the 
community, and that, as to the priests, it was much better that 
they should apply themselves to study and to other spiritual 
exercises which are proper to their state, than to the labor of 
their hands. In fact, it would be ridiculous to say that doctors, 
preachers, confessors, and priests, who spend their lives in singing 
the praises of God, and lending their spiritual aid to their 
neighbors ; and clerks, who study in order to qualify themselves 
to ser\-e the Church, should be obliged to learn a trade in order 
to labor at it. 

It was in vain that the Book of St Augustine on the Labor of 
]\Ionks was referred to in reply, § since he only speaks of monks, 
that is, of solitaries by profession, who were not employed in the 
sacred ministries, and because in his Retractationes, he says posi- 
tively that he only wrote against those monks who did not choose 
to do anything at all, and who asserted that, in their state of life, 
they vs-ere not required to labor, misapplying some passages of 

*St Math. XXV, 41-45. 

tSt. Thom. Opus. 34. alias 19, contr. Imp. Relig. c. 5. 
+ St. Bonav. de Tnbus Queest. ad Magist. in nom. Expos, in Reg. cap, 5, 
Determ. Quaest. circ. Regut St. Franc. Qu^est. 11. 
J St. Aug. Lib. ii. Retract, c. 21. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 279 

the Holy Scriptures to authorize their idleness. Moreover, he 
admits that those who preach the Gospel may live by the Gospel, 
and are not obliged to perform manual labor.* 

If St. Paul,f who served the altar, nevertheless worked for his 
maintenance, it was because he did not choose to assert his right, 
for particular reasons which related to the good of his mission. J 
In similar cases his example should be followed, as it has been by 
many holy bishops and priests, according to the testimony of St. 
Epiphanius. § But the apostle did not lay it down as a law ; he 
proves that the preachers of the Gospel should be supported by 
the faithful. As to his having added manual labor to his 
ministry, St. John Chrysostom makes no other remark than the 
following: ''We who often forego the ministry of preaching 
should blush at the idleness of our lives." 1| This great preacher 
humbly made the reproach to inactive ministers, a defect of 
which he, certainly, was guiltless. 

The Friars Minor are forbidden in the sixth chapter to possess 
any property whatsoever, ^ neither house, nor place, nor any other 

* Id. de Oper. Monach. c. xx, n. 23 et 24. t Act. xviii, 3 ; et xx, 34. 

1 1 Cor. iv, 12. et ix, 12, et alibi. § St. Epiph. Haer. Ixxx, 5, 6. 

II I Cor. ix, 7, et seq. St. Chrysos. Homil. 39, in Act. Apost. 

i[ The author of the History of the City of Paris, who has been before 
quoted, in speaking of St. Francis and his first disciples, says : ''That the 
spirit of their institute was to have no property whatever, either in common 
or individually, not even the houses in which they dwelt. For which reason, 
he adds, they only received them as borrowed, and considered the property 
as that of the founders. For the subtle reason had not been urged, as it was 
in the following century, by several Doctors who wished to make either the 
Pope or the Roman Church proprietors of the convents of the begging 
Orders, so that neither the one nor the other would have been either richer 
or poorer. " Tom. i, hb. 6, p. 285. This writer ought to have known that the 
Religious of St. Francis profess to this day not to have any property, either in 
common or individually, neither house, nor anything else whatsoever. He 
ought not to have been ignorant that the Sovereign Pontiffs Nicholas HI and 
Clement V have made known, in conformity with what had been done by 
their predecessors Gregory IX, Innocent IV, and Gregory X, that they took 
to themselves, and for the Holy Roman Church all property given to the 
Friars Mmor, and particularly the Churches and Grave- yards. How then 
could he attribute to the subtilty of Doctors an arrangement expressly notified 
in the Constitutions received by the universal Church, inserted in the code 
of Laws, and renewed, in 1625, by Pope Urban VIII, with order to conform 
to it, without noticing any others ? That the property in things of which 
the Friars may have the use, belongs to the Pope, or to the Sovereign of 
each state, or to those who give them, and who wish to preserve the right 
over them ; tliat as long as these exist, they may be taken back, and the Friars 
have no legal means of preventing it; and they are even deprived of the 
power of going to law about it. It must be admitted that, /// reality, this 
poverty in ommunityis greater than where the right is retained of defending 
the property belonging to the community. The Proprietors of the houses of 
the Order of tiie Minors are richer from it^ since Uiey may always resume 
what belongs to them ; besides that, as Pope Nicholas HI says, their charity 
merits an eternal reward, and the Minors are the poorer^ since they are always 
exposed tc give back what does nut belong l«» ihcni. 



2 So S. FKANXIS OF ASSIST. 

thing. It is desired that they should consider themselves as 
strangers in this world, that they may sen^e the Lord in poverty 
and humility, and that they solicit alms with confidence, without 
feeling any shame in the act, since Jesus Christ became poor in 
this world for the love of us : " ]My dear brethren," says St. Francis, 
'' such is the excellence of this sublime poverty, that it makes you 
heirs to the kingdom of heaven ; it has stripped you of the goods 
of this world in order to make you great in virtue. Let this be 
your practice ; this is what leads you to the regions of the living ; 
bind yourselves, therefore, entirely to it, and for the name of Jesus 
Christ never wish for anything but the kingdom of heaven.'' He 
then adverts to the sincere and tender friendship which the brethren 
should feel towards each other, disclosing to each other with confi- 
dence their wants, wherever they may meet. ' ' For, " says he, " if a 
mother nourishes her son according to the flesh, with how much 
more aftection should each one love and nourish his brother ac- 
cording to the spirit ? And if any of these fall sick, the others 
must attend to nmi as ihey would wish to be attended in similar 
circumstances.'' This is what Jesus Christ taught : ^^Ailthmgs 
whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to 
them. " "^ 

The reasoning which St. Francis enters into, to demonstrate 
with what affection his brethren must love each other and lend 
their aid to each other, is very solid and very pathetic. P'rom the 
love a mother has for a son according to the flesh, and from the 
care she takes of him, he draws this consequence — that they must 
love their brethren still more according to the spirit, and take 
much more care of them. The consequence is correct, says St. 
Bonaventure.f Love which has charity for its basis, is stronger 
than that which proceeds from flesh and blood, because charity, 
having an infinite object for its basis, all that is finite cannot 
withstand it ; it overcomes even the natural fear of death. In fact, 
charity inspires greater tenderness, renders more careful and more 
active, gives more fortitude and more constancy than any other 
love. ^lay the children of the blessed Patriarch have it always 
in their hearts, and manifest the proofs of it to their brethren ! 
They are all obliged by their Rule to render mutual ser\-ices to 
each other in their illnesses, as much as it may be in their power, 
and permitted by obedience. The obligation is particularly 
binding on those to whom the care of the sick is confided by the 
superiors ; but it is principally imposed on the superiors them- 
selves, who are the servants of the others by their position, and 
who are bound to see, by continual vigilance, that the sick are 
properly taken care of It is a most important duty which St. 



' Matt, vii, 12. t St. Boiiav. Expos, in Reg. cap. 6. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 28 1 

Bonaventure ^ considers to be included in these words of the Son 
of God : ^^By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, 
if you have love one for another; ''f and the fulfilment of this 
duty increases the charity which prescribes it^ according to the 
words of Wisdom : ' ' Be not slow to visit the sick, for by these 
things thou shalt be confirmed in love." J 

The seventh chapter only relates to those penances which are 
to be imposed for grave faults ; on which subject the superiors are 
admonished not to be discomposed, and not to be moved to anger 
by the sins of others, since that destroys charity, both in them- 
selves and in the brethren. 

The eighth chapter treats of the election of the minister general, 
and of the assembling the general and provincial chapters. 

The ninth directs, that the preachers shall not preach in a 
diocese, if the bishop is opposed to it ; nor before having been 
examined and approved by the minister general ; that their dis- 
courses shall be examined and corrected ; that they must study 
for the instruction and edification of the people, preaching upon 
virtues and vices, on eternal punishment and glory, and all this 
in a few words. St. Bonaventure § says that, by this last circum- 
stance, St. Francis means that everything that is useless to the 
subject, should be expunged from their sermons, and he adds 
that this should be literally understood and acted upon, for, 
sermons which are too long are fatiguing, and disgust the audi- 
ence. II The one agrees with the other ; for sermons are not too 
long, when nothing is said but what relates to the subject, and 
when too many heads are not introduced. He also retnarks : ist. 
That the Friars Minor are to study preaching as part of their state 
of life, since their rule dictates to them the manner in which they 
are to preach. 2d. That is was the intention of their Father 
that they should study, since he desires that their discourses 
should be accurate and corrected, which they cannot be without 
study. 

The superiors and inferiors are instructed in the tenth chapter ; 
the former, as to the mode of governing, the latter, as to obedience, 
and the holy Patriarch exhorts all to the practice of the most 
sublime virtues. He desires that those who are illiterate shall 
not give themselves the trouble of studying, which St. Bona- 
venture says is to be understood of the lay-brethren, to whom 
study is unnecessary. ^ 

* St. Bonav. Expos, in Reg. cap. vi. t Jolin, xiii, 35. 

t Ecclus. vii, 39. § St. Bonav. in cap. ix, Refill. 

II A writer lias observed that St. Augustine, when he was advanced in years, 
preached shorter sermons than wlien he was young, not to fatigue his audi- 
ence by too much instruction. Tillcniont's Mcni(Mrs, torn, xiii, pp. 248, 249. 

^i St. r.oiKLv. in cap. xii, RctMil. 



282 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

In the eleventh chapter there are some prudent precautions in 
regard to women, and particularly as to religious women, in order 
that no suspicion may attach to the Friars Minor. 

The twelfth chapter is written under the impression that the 
Friars Minor will be sent to preach to the infidels, which has been 
the case, since the very beginning of the Order until the present 
day ; but it is recommended to the superiors only to permit those 
to go whom they shall deem best qualified. The sainted Legis- 
lator, in directing, out of obedience, to the ministers to solicit from 
the Pope, a cardinal of the holy Roman Church, as protector of 
the Order, says: ^'In order that being always submissive to this 
holy Church, and prostrate at its feet, always firm and steady in 
the Catholic faith, we may practise poverty and humility, and 
practise the law of the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we 
have faithfully promised/' 

Such is the Rule of the Friars Minor, reduced to twelve chapters 
from twenty- three, which formed the number of the first Rule. It 
is short, but replete with evangelical perfection. If it be wished 
to have a good and ample commentary on it, it will only be 
requisite to study the actions and works of the holy Founder. 

Speaking of the Rule, he said to his children, ''I have not put 
anything into it of my own ; I caused it all to be written as God 
revealed it to me ; '' and he adduced this motive to excite them 
the better to keep it. He confirmed the revelation in his will, in 
the following terms : "When the Lord confided to me the guid- 
ance of the brethren, no one communicated to me how I was to 
behave towards them, but the Almighty himself revealed to me 
that I ought to live according to the form prescribed by the Gos- 
pel ; I caused it to be written out in few and simple wxrds," etc. 

This is the eulogium he passed on it : " JNIy brethren and my 
dear children, a ver}^ great favor was done to us in giving us this 
Rule ; for it is the book of life, the hope of salvation, the pledge 
of gloiy, the marrow of the Gospel, the way of the cross, a state 
of perfection, the key of Paradise, and the bond of our eternal 
' alliance. None of you is ignorant how greatly advantageous to 
us holy religion is. As the enemy who fights against us is ex- 
tremely clever in inventing and executing everything which is 
malicious, and strews in our way all sorts of snares to effect our 
perdition, there are many whose salvation he would have brought 
into great peril, if religion had not been their shield. Study, 
therefore, your Rule, all of you, not only for alleviating your pains, 
but in order that it may remind you of the oath you have taken 
10 keep it. It is necessary that you should employ yourselves in 
meditating on it, that it may sink into your hearts, and be always 
before your eyes, so that you may observe it with exactness, and 
hold it fast at vour deaths." 



S. FRAN'CIS OF ASSISI. 283 

St. Bridget being in prayer at Jerusalem, where she was inter- 
ceding for a Friar Minor who had some conscientious scruples 
on the subject of the Rule, our Saviour caused her to hear the 
following words : ''The Rule of St. Francis was not the composi- 
tion of the human mind ; it is I who made it ; it does not contain 
a single word which was not inspired by my spirit ; and thus he 
gave it to the others.''* 

Pope Nicholas III f says, that it bears on the face of it, the 
evidence of the Trinity ; that it is descended from the Father of 
Light, that it was taught to the apostles by the example, and by 
the doctrine of His Son, and that the Holy Ghost inspired it to 
the blessed Francis and to those who had followed him. He 
also declares, as Gregory IX had done before, that it is established 
on the word of the Gospel, authorized by the life of Jesus Christ, 
and supported by the actions and words of the apostles, who 
founded the Church militant. It consists, according to the 
remark of St. Bonaventure, |. in observing the Holy Gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, because all its substance is taken from the pure 
source of the Gospel. It is, therefore, no new rule ; it is only a 
renewed rule ; literally the same as what the Son of God laid 
down for the apostles, when He sent them forth to preach : and 
this is what must give great spiritual consolation to those who 
keep it. This holy doctor § considers the impressions of the 
wounds of Jesus Christ, which Francis received from the hand of 
the living God, some time after the revelation of the Rule, as a 
bull of Jesus Christ, by which that High Pontiff confirmed it; and 
Pope Nicholas III was of the same opinion, in his Decretal. 

Finally, the Rule of the Fnars ]\Iinor, given by St. Francis, is 
wholly evangelical, II and u-holly apostolical ; there never was one 

* Revel. Sanct. Bridgit. lib. vii, cap. 20. 

t In Sexto de Verb, signif. Exiit qui seminat. 

!St. Bonav. Expos, in Keg. Fr. jVIin. cap. i, § Id. Leg. St. PVanc. cap. iv. 
Upon this ])rinciple, some have asserted that ihe Rule of the Friars 
Minor is a divine law, and cannot be done away. This requires explanation. 
If it is looked (^n as extracted from the Gospels, it cannot be denied that it is 
a divine law, and independent of any human authority, since the Gospel is 
the word of the Son of God. It is for this reason that Cardinal John of St. 
Paul said to the other cardinals, in presence of Pope Innocent III, as we 
have related: '* If we reject the request of this poor man, under the pretext 
of his rule being a novelty, and too hard to be kept, let us be careful that we 
do not repudiate the Ciospel itself, because the rule of which he solicits 
your approval, is in conformity with what the Gospel teaches." But if this 
rule is considered a form of life ])rescribe:l for a particular order, and applied 
by the Pope, it is clear ihat it is not a divine law, and that for adequate 
reasons a Pope may supjMess it, as in other cases. Alvar. Pelag. de Planet. 
Eccles. lib. ii, cap. 61. Emman. Roder. Quiest. Regul. torn, i, Quxst. 4, art. 
I. Wading, ad ann. 1223, n. 14. Joan. Perrin. D(Kt. Paris. Supra Dispens. 
Fr. Min. Petr. Marchant. Expos, Litt. in Keg. FF. Min. Quii:st. 3. proem, 
et fundnm. diiod. part i, titul. 4. p. 55 ct s(M|. 



284 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

which was so universally and so promptly followed. Men illus- 
trious by their birth, by their knowledge, by their talents, by their 
virtue, embraced it and have followed it, during more than five 
centuries, in all parts of the Christian world ; it has given to the 
Church a new family, in numbers most extensive, whose fecundity 
does not become exhausted, and it has produced a greal number 
of saints.* 

The children of the Patriarch, having most willingly received 
it, he left them in the month of October, in order to solicit the 
approval of the Sovereign Pontiff. When at Rome, he was invited 
to dine with Cardinal Ugolino, the protector of the Order, who 
had a sincere affection for him ; but he did not come to the 
invitation, until he had begged some pieces of bread, as he was 
accustomed to do, when he was to dine wdth persons of rank. 
Being at table, he drew this bread from his sleeve and began to 
eat of it, and he gave some to the other guests, who partook of 
it from devotion. After dinner, the cardinal embraced him, and 
said, smiling: ''My good man, why, as you were to dine with 
me, did you put the affront on me, to go and beg bread first and 
bring it to my table.?'' ''My Lord,'' replied Francis, "far from 
doing anything to affront you, I did you honor, in honoiing, at 
your board, a much greater Lord than you are, to whom poverty is 
very agreeable, especially that which goes as far as voluntary 
mendicancy, for the love of Jesus Christ. I have resolved not to 
give up in favor of false and passing riches, this virtue which is 
of royal dignity, since our Lord Jesus Christ became poor for us,*]" 
in order that, by His poverty, we might become rich and heirs to 
the kingdom of heaven, in our quality of poor in spirit. " J 

An admirable reply, which is quite in unison with what was 
said by St. Gregory Nazianzen. " If I am reproached for my 
poverty, I am sure that it is my treasure ; " § and with these words 
of St Ambrose, on the birth of Christ : ' ' His poverty is my patri- 
mony ; He chose to want for everything, in order that all others 
might be in abundance. " || 

The cardmal presented Francis to the Pope, that he might 
solicit the confirmation of his Rule. The Holy Father read it, 
and, finding it too severe, he desired some changes might be 
made in it ; but, the man of God protesting by everything that 



* Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XIII, has canonized two others, the loth 
and 28th of December, 1726; the Blessed James de la Marche, and the 
Blessed Francis Solano. On the 9th of the same, he created Father Loiirmer 
Cogga, General of the Order of St. Francis, a cardinal, and the following 
day he canonized a saint of the same Order. 
• t 2 Cor. viii, 9. I Math, v, 3. 

§ St. Greg. Naz. Orat. 28, n, 33. 

Ij St. jVmbr. in Luc. lib. 2, n. 41. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 285 

was most sacred, that he had not put a single word into it, and 
that Jesus Christ had dictated it, as it there stood, the Pontiff, 
after discussing it with the cardinals, confirmed it* His Bull 
commences thus : 

^'Honorius, bishop, the servant of the servants of God. • To 
our dearly beloved sons, Brother Francis, and other brethren of 
the Order of Friars Minor, health and apostolical benediction. 
The Apostolic See is accustomed to assent to pious intentions 
and to favor the laudable wishes of those who solicit her favors. 
For which reason, our dear children in Jesus Christ, we con- 
firm by apostolical authority, and we strengthen by this present 
writing, the Rule of your Order, which was approved f by Pope 
Innocent, of glorious memory, our predecessor, expressed in 
these terms.'' 

After having gone through it all, he concludes as follows: 
^'Let no person, therefore, have the temerity to violate the con- 
tents of our present confirmation, or to contravene it. Should 
any one dare to do so, let him know that he will incur the indig- 
nation of Almighty God, and that of His blessed apostles, St. 
Peter and St. Paul. Given in the Lateran palace, the twenty- 
ninth day of November, 1223, the eighth of our pontificate." 

The original of this Bull, with its leaden seal, is preserved at 
Assisi, in the convent of St. Francis, where Wading saw it, in 16 19, 
with a copy of the Rule written by St. Francis' own hand. J 

The Pope, at the same time, issued another Bull, addressed to 
the prelates of the Church, in which, having noticed that, accord- 
ing to the Rule of the Friars Minor, no one may be admitted to 
profession till after a year's probation, and that no one, once pro- 
fessed, may leave the Order, he makes known that he has given 
the superiors power to excommunicate such as shall leave it, and 
he enjoins all bishops to consider them as such, and to denounce 
them, if requisite, in order to compel them, by this means, to 
return to the Order. There are always tares among the wheat, § — 
wicked with saints in religious congregations, as indeed in the 
whole Church ; God permits this for good reasons, and this should 
not diminish the esteem and respect which are due to the body. 

The same Pope had granted, in 1222, at the request which 
Francis had made to him in the name of the whole Order, that 



* Wading says that a part of the hall in which the Rule was confirmed, is 
now the chapel of the Friars Minor Penitentiaries of St. John Lateran. Ad 
ann. 1223, n. 16. 

t This must not be understood literally, but, according to the sense, for 
the whole substance of the first Rule which Pope Innocent III had appnn^ed 
verbally, is found in the second Rule, which was approved by the Bull of 
Pope Honorius 111. 

t Wading, in 2 Regul. Sanct. Franc. Argum. § Matt, xiii, 27. 



2 86 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

they might be allowed to say the divine Offices in a low tone of 
voice, and with the doors of their churches closed in times of 
general interdicts. This concession is dated from Anagni, the 
29th day of March, in the sixth year of his pontificate. On the 
same day he sent a commission to the superiors of the Friars 
Preachers and Friars Minor of the diocese of Lisbon, where they 
were already in great repute, to reform, with son)e others, certain 
abuses which had been adopted by the clergy in the administration 
of the sacraments. The favor which Francis had solicited for the 
times of interdicts makes it clear that he was not averse from hav- 
ing some privileges, and that his children do not act in opposition 
to his spirit, when they solicit them for legitimate causes. 

We must not delay recording here that, in 1224, Honorius III 
granted permission to the Friars Minor to use portable altars for 
the celebration o*f mass; that in 1225, some bishops in France 
having set themselves up in opposition to this, the Holy Father 
wrote from Rieti to the archbishop of Rheims to remove these 
obstacles ; and some other prelates having been still more averse 
from their having this privilege, so as even to have pronounced 
sentence of excommunication against the Religious of the Order, 
and against those who should receive them, he wrote to the bishops 
of Paris and Tournai, to put a stop to the excesses which he did 
not hesitate to qualify as rash. 

While Francis was still at Rome, he proposed to himself to 
celebrate the festival of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ at 
Grecio, with all the solemnity possible, in order to awaken the 
devotion of all in that vicinity. He wrote a letter on the subject 
to his friend, John Velita, begging him to prepare all things ; and 
in order that there should be no room for censuring what he was 
about to do, he spoke to the Pope about it, who approved highly 
of this pious ceremony, and granted indulgences to those who 
should assist at it. 

St. Bonaventure informs us that, before his departure from 
Rome, .he went to pay his respects to Cardinal Leo Brancaleone, 
titular of Santa Croce, with whom his friendship began in 12 10, 
when he first came to have his Rule approved. This cardinal 
invited him to stay some days in his palace, because the severity 
of the weather and the floods might impede his journey ; it was 
the month of December. He retained, to remain with him, with 
Francis' leave, Brother Angelo Tancredi, whose miraculous 
conversion we have related ; at that time, there were but few of 
the cardinals who did not wish to have some of the Friars Minor 
in their company ; such was the veneration they had for 
their virtue at the Roman court. Francis, however, found 
excuses for not spending more than two or three days in the 
palace of Brancaleone, saying that it was not fitting for the poor 



S. FRA^XIS OF ASSI5I. 287 

to dwell in the palaces of princes. The cardinal told him that 
he would receive him as a pauper, and give him a bed, not in his 
palace, but in an adjacent tower near the city walls, quite out 
of the w^ay of any noise, where he might repose from his fatigue 
for some time. Tancredi entreated him not to refuse this satisfac- 
tion to a prince of the Church, who was a person of great piety, 
and a generous benefactor to the Order ; therefore, out of respect, 
and from gratitude, he consented to stay, and with his companion 
took up his abode in the tower. 

The following night, when he was about to take some repose, 
the devils came and beat him so long, and so violently, that they 
left him half-dead. He called his companion, and told him what 
had happened, and he added : '' Brother, I believe that the devils, 
who can do nothing without the leave of the Almighty, have 
ill-used me to this degree, because of my having remained with 
great people, here ; if so, it augurs no good. My brethren who 
dwell in very poor houses, knowing that I am the guest of 
cardinals, might suspect that I enter willingly into the concerns 
of the world, that I glory in honors, and that I am living daintily. 
I therefore think that a man who is to be an example to others, 
should leave the court, and dwell humbly with the humble, in 
places adapted to the profession of humility, in order that he may 
inspire those with fortitude, who suffer the inconveniences of a life 
of poverty, by suffering with them.'' In the morning, he took 
leave of the cardinal, and set out for Grecio. 

It is necessary here to remark that St. Francis, who permitted 
some of his brethren to remain with the cardinals, did not think 
that he himself, who was the Superior, ought to spend a single 
night in their palaces, lest others should be disedified thereby, 
and that it was his duty to give good example to all. This shows 
how much persons in power should strive not to do anything 
calculated to give bad examples, and to abstain from certain 
things which, though irreprehensible in themselves, and which 
w^ould not be animadverted on in an individual, might be a cause 
of scandal in one in high station, who ought to be a model of 
virtue. On this principle, St, Paul said to the Christians ; *' All 
things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. All 
things are lawful for me, but all things do not edify. I do all for 
your edification." * He recommended his disciples, Timothy and 
Titus, whom he had ordained bishops, to be ''an example to the 
faithful, in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith, in chastity, 
in the practice of good works, "f St. Gregory, St. Bernard, and 
all the Holy Fathers have always required of prelates, as a primary 
qualification, that they should greatly edify ; which is the more 

* I Cor. X, 22, 23 ; 2 Cor. xii, 19. t I Tim. iv, 12; Tit. ii, 7. 



200 S. FRANXIS 01- ASSISf. 

necessary in the superiors of religious communities, as their 
example is under more immediate observation. J 

The bad health of Francis, the beating which he had received 
from the devils, and a constant fall of rain, compelled him to ride 
on an ass. During his journey he dismounted to say the Divine 
Office, standing ; he remained on the same spot without paying at- 
tention to the rain, and did not mount till he had quite finished. 
We shall speak on a future occasion of his respect, piety, and great 
attention in the performance of this holy exercise. 

Having reached Grecio, he found all things prepared for the 
celebration of the festival by his friend Velita. They had prepared 
a crib in the wood, in which was represented the nativity of our 
Saviour ; they had placed straw there, and, during Christmas-night, 
they took there an ox and an ass. Many Friars Minor had been 
collected there from the neighboring convents, and the people 
of the environs came in crowds to the ceremony. The wood was 
lit up by numerous torches, and resounded melodiously from the 
sound of a thousand voices which sang the praises of God with 
untiring zeal. Francis, full of devotion, and with his eyes bathed 
in tears of holy joy, knelt before the manger^ above which an altar 
had been placed, where mass was celebrated at midnight ; he 
acted as deacon, and after having sung the Gospel, he preached 
on the birth of the new-born King, become poor, and to whom, 
froia a' sentiment of great affection, he gave no other name, when 
he alluded to Him, than that of the Child of Bethlehem. 

Velita, who had prepared the ceremonial, assured them that he 
had seen a most beautiful child in the manger, who was asleep, 
and whom Francis tenderly embraced in order to awaken it 
There is so much the more reason for giving credit to this marvel, 
says St. Bonaventure, that he who relates it, as having been an 
eye-witness of it, was a very holy man, and that it was confirmed 
by many miracles ; for the straw on which the child appeared to 
be sleeping, had the virtue of curing various maladies amongst 
cattle ; and, what is still more wonderful, those who came to visit 
the spot, however tepid and indevout they may have been, were 
inflamed with the love of God. After the death of the Saint, a 
chapel was erected on the spot, and the altar was placed on the 
manger, in order that the flesh of the man-God immolated on the 
cross, might be eaten on the spot on which He had chosen to appear 
as a sleeping infant. 

After the ceremony, Francis retired to the convent of Grecio, 
where some of the provincial ministers had collected, who had 



I St. Greg, in Job. lib, ii, cap. 3. et Reg. Past. lib. ii, cap. 16. n. 27, Edit. 
Eened. St. Bernard, in Cant, seim. 76, n. 9. De Div. serm. 35, et lOo. 

ct alii, passim. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 289 

come thither to coiAmunicate to him the affairs of their respective 
provinces. The refectory had been set out in a better style than 
usualy with napkins and glasses, not only on account of the 
solemnity of the day, but to show respect to the guests. Francis 
was displeased at this, and, during dinner, he went to the door 
of the convent, and took the hat and staff of a pilgrim who was 
soliciting alms, and then, in this garb, came to the refectory to beg 
as a poor pilgrim. The superior, who knew him by his voice, 
said to him, smiling : ''Brother pilgrim, there are here very many 
Religious, who stand in great need of what has been bestowed 
upon them out of charity ; however, come in, and they will give 
you what they can." Francis came in and sat himself on the 
ground, where he ate very contentedly some scraps of bread 
and other things which they gave him on a platter, without 
choosing to have anything else. 

After dinner, he made them a beautiful discourse upon the 
poverty of Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother, in which he 
took occasion to say that savory dishes were ill-suited to the 
table of poor Religious, particularly on Christmas-day, when the 
Blessed Virgin had hardly a meal to eat, and when the Infant 
Jesus had no place in which He could be laid but a stable, where 
animals were sheltered. He concluded by tellmg them that the 
feasts of our Lord and those of the saints, were better kept in the 
poverty which they had taken so much pains to practise, than by 
partaking of superfluities and dainties which they had held in 
abhorrence. 

Saint Bonaventure relates his having given a similar instruction 
on an Easter Sunday. Not having been able to beg out of doors, 
because he was in a very retired situation, he asked alms of his 
brethren, as being poor and a stranger, in m^emoiy of our Saviour, 
who appeared on the day of His resurrection, under the figure of 
a stranger, to the disciples who were going to Emmaus ; * and he 
afterwards said to them, that going through this world as strangers 
and pilgrims, as true Israelites, they were bound to celebrate the 
Passover in a spirit of poverty, which is His passage from this world 
to His Father. f 

These instructions are particularly valuable to the Religious, and 
especially for those who make profession of strict poverty ; but 
there is no faithful Christian who should not know, that in abstain- 
ing from servile work, he nevertheless profanes the holiness of 
festival days, when he employs them in worldly diversions. St 
Augustine says, J that those Christians who, in celebrating the 



* Luke, xxiv, 15, 16, 

tjohn, xiii, i. 

t St. Auir. in Psal. lix, n. 15; in Psal. Ixix, n. 2; et Serm. 252, n. 2. 

'3 



290 S. FRANCIS OF ASSFSl. 

solemn festivals of mart^Ts, take occasion to make them an excuse 
for debauchery and insult, in some degree, t(;nture them, as their 
executioners did ; and that those who trench upon temperance, 
when the feast of Easter is celebrated, are carnal persons, who 
expose themselves to being excluded from celebrating it eternally 
with the angels. In order to sancUfy the Lord's Day and other 
festivals; they should be employed in exercises of piety, in entering 
into the spirit of the mysteries which the Church celebrates, and in 
proposing to themselves the example of the saints whom we intend 
to honor. 

Francis remained some time at Grecio, where, one night, when 
he intended to lay himself down to sleep, he felt a severe head- 
ache, and a shivering over his whole body, which quite impeded 
his resting. Thinking that this might be caused by a feather 
pillow which his friend Velita had compelled him to accept, in 
consequence of his infirmities, he called his companion, v.'ho was 
near his cell, and said : ' ' Take away this pillow : I believe the 
devil is in it.'' His companion, who took it away, found it 
extremely hea\T, and he had hardly left the cell, that he found 
himself motionless and dumb. The Father, not doubting of the 
malignity of the devil, ordered the brother, under obedience, to 
come back directly ; the wricked spirit having immediately left 
him, he came back and related the state in which he had found 
himself The Saint, confirmed by this in the idea with which he 
had been impressed, that what he had sufi'ered had been brought 
on by his enemy, he said : ^'It is true that yesterday, when recit- 
ing CompHne, I perceived that the devil was approaching, and I 
prepared to resist him. He is full of malice and artfulness ; as 
he could not sully a soul which God protects by His grace, he 
endeavored to injure the body, and to prevent the necessary aid 
being afi'orded to it, in order to induce it to commit some fault, at 
least of impatience, and prevent his having recourse to prayer." 
The holy man was delivered from his sufferings, and got the rest 
he could not obtain, when his head was laid upon a feather pillow. 
To what a height of perfection did not God propose to raise this 
His faithful servant? He did not even allow him to have a small 
relief from his sufterings. He is a holy God, jealous of the 
sanctity of souls,* who desires to have them purified by all sorts 
of sacrifices ; but, then, His rewards are great. 

In this year, 1223, Francis had convened the usual chapter at 
Whitsuntide, when Brother Albert of Pisa, who had returned 
from England, was made provincial of Germany, instead of 
Brother Caesar of Spire. Of Albert we shall have occasion to 
speak further on. Francis had also sent some of his brethren to 



* Deut. V. 9. 10. 



I 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 29I 

establish a convent in an excellent situation near the town of 
Urbino, which convent was built at the joint expense of the 
inhabitants of Montebarocchio, and Montegiano. 

The historians of the city of Bologna* mention his having 
gone thither in the course of this year, when he preached in the 
great square, and that, knowing their great immorality, he ex- 
claimed very often, in a loud voice : ^ ^ City of Bologna, great 
calamities would, ere this, have befallen thee, and thou wouldst 
have been very miserable, if thou hadst not had a powerful pro- 
tector in my very dear brother, Dominic, who intercedes unceas- 
ingly for thee. " He did not leave the city before she had put a 
stop to numerous irregularities ; and it is believed that there oc- 
curred a circumstance, at that time, which is related by one of its 
historians, f While Francis was preaching in the great square, an 
earthquake was felt, which caused great alarm among the people, 
because there had been several others in the course of the year, 
which had thrown down many houses; but the Saint, without 
manifesting any emotion, continued his discourse, showing to his 
auditors, that by these direful events, God warns men to quit their 
evil ways, and that the fruits of so doing would be their speedy 
conversion. 

Whilst Francis was at Grecio and in its environs, Peter of 
Catania, his first vicar-general, died in the convent of St. Mary of 
the Angels, on the 2d day of March, 1224. J As soon as he was 
in the tomb, God bore witness to his merit by many miracles. 
The people crowded to his grave, and left valuable offerings, which 
greatly disturbed the quiet of the Religious, and caused them much 
uneasiness on account of their strict poverty. Francis, having been 
informed of it, went to the tomb, and, moved by holy zeal, he 
addressed the dead man in a commanding tone, which God alone 
could have inspired him with : ''Brother Peter, whilst you were 
living, you always obeyed me punctually : I command you to 
obey me similarly now. Those who come to your grave are very 
troublesome to us. Our poverty is offended, and our quiet in- 
fringed on, so that our discipline becomes relaxed ; thus, I com- 
mand you, by your vow of obedience, to refrain from performing 
any more miracles." His order was obeyed. From that moment, 
no more miracles were performed on the tomb of Brother Peter. 

An ancient manuscript chronicle which is preserved in the 
Vatican, mentions that Francis, having directed the body of Bro- 
ther Peter to be removed sometime afterwards, it was found that 



* vSigon. et Leand. apud Wading ad ami. 1 223, 11. 25. 
t Sigon. de Epist. Bonon. lib. li. 

t See the long note on Peler of Catania in the beginning of the year 122 1, 
in p. 229, III Hook, of this Life. 



292 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

it was turned and kneeling, the head bowed down, and in the 
posture of one who obeys a command given him. To mark the 
value of obedience and the respect due to it, God was pleased to 
permit a dead person to obey the orders of a superior, as if he had 
been living. 

A similar prohibition from performing miracles after death, is 
recorded in the Life of St. Bernard.* Gosvin, abbot of Citeaux, 
who was at his funeral with many other abbots of his Order, seeing 
the commotion caused by the numerous miracles which were 
worked there, and fearing this w^ould become prejudicial to regular 
discipline, approached respectfully to the coffin, and forbade the 
saint from performing any more miracles, in virtue of his obedi- 
ence. And, in fact, from that time, there w^ere no more performed 
at that shrine publicly, although God performed others privately 
by his invocation. The author adds, that St. Benedict f requires 
in his Rule, an obedience without reserve, according to the ex- 
ample of Jesus Christ, who w^as obedient unto death, J and that 
the soul of St Bernard rendered itself obedient even after death to 
a mortal man. 

Clare, and her daughters of the monastery of St. Damian, 
entreated Francis to give them a written rule, and a form of life 
similar to that of the Friars Minor, in order that, in his absence 
and after his death, they and those who should succeed them, 
might live up to it. These Religious of St. Damian, did not wish 
to receive the Rule of St Benedict, nor the constitutions prepared 
by Cardinal Ugolino, w^hkh the other monasteries, established on 
the plan of St Damian, had willingly accepted, and which were 
of great severity : these nuns desired to have a rule which should 
be of greater rigor. 

The holy Patriarch consulted the same cardinal on this subject, 
he being the protector of both Orders ; and they jointly composed 
a Rule in twelve chapters, which was similar in all respects to that 
of the Friars Minor, with modifications and usages proper for 
females. If anything made Francis hesitate, the cardinal gave 
his opinion either to modify certain parts, or to take precautions 
on others, and he inserted some articles from the constitutions 
which had before been drawn up. While he was writing, he 
could not help . shedding tears, in reflecting that young females 
were willing to practise austerities so much above their strength. 

We shall only give a summar}^ of this Rule, in order to show 
the prudence of the Founder. Ever attentive to the purity of the 
faith, he desires that Clare, § in the name of the sisterhood, as he 
had done in the name of all his brethren, shall promise obedience 

* Vita St. Bern. lib. vii, cap. 28 ; torn. 2. Apoc. edit. Mabill. 

t Reg. St. Bened. cap. vii. } Phil, ii, 8. § Reg. St. Clar. cap. i, ct xii 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 293 

and respect to Pope Honorius, and to his successors canonically 
elected, and to the Roman Church ; that those who present them- 
selves to be received, shall be carefully examined on the Catholic 
faith, and on the sacraments of the Church ; and that the sisters 
shall always have for their protector the cardinal who shall be 
appointed to that situation for the Friars Minor, by the Pope, in 
order that, being always submissive to the holy Church and pros- 
trate at its feet, they may ever remain firm in the Catholic faith. 

We might not think perhaps that this precaution was requisite 
for persons of the female sex, whose lot^ in every state, is submission 
and silence ; but St. Francis knew that, being naturally curious, 
they do not let this propensity prevail, less in matters of religion 
than in other things ; and, to take from them all opportunity of 
letting this injure their faith, he thought it prudent to bind them 
to the Roman Church, and to the Holy See, by a vow of entire 
obedience and inviolable attachment. In fact, it is the most 
efficacious method for restraining an indiscreet curiosity, and for 
preserving the faith pure and unspotted. Moreover, St. Jerome, 
who was extremely delicate on this point, wishing to prevent the 
illustrious Demetrias, who had consecrated herself to Jesus Christ 
by a vow of virginity, from adopting the errors of Origen, which 
the priest Rufinus, and Melania, the Elder, had brought from the 
East, and which then began to spread, gave her this excellent 
advice in a letter written on the subject of her consecration : 
' Follow the faith of the holy Pope Innocent,^the disciple and 
successor of Anastasius, and do not receive any strange doctrine, 
although perhaps you may flatter yourself to be sufficiently clever 
and sufficiently enlightened to detect its illusions.''* 

Besides, the holy Patriarch was aware that the heretics in all 
ages took great care to seduce women into their views ; whether 
they were devout or worldly, they were equally useful to them. 
Ecclesiastical History furnishes sufficient proofs of this, and our 
age is not deficient in examples. It is well known to whom these 
words of St. Jerome to Jovinian and Pelagius are applicable : 
*'You have Amazons in your camp. In order to obtain their 
good graces, you give them liberally knowledge of the law, and 
you assert in your writings that women ought to possess this 
knowledge, although the apostle teaches the contrary, that they 
ought to be silent and submissive." f St. Francis, therefore, acted 
very prudently, in binding, by the strongest and the most sacred 
ties to the Roman Church and to the Holy See, these religious 
females, as well as the brethren. 



* St. Hier. Ep. ad Demet. 97, alias 8. 

t St. Ilier. adv. Jovin. lib. ii, sub. fin. Id. Dial. adv. Pelag. lib. i, i Cor. 
xiv, 34 et 35. 



2 94 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

He desirecl that no female too aged, or infirm, or of weak 
intellect, should be received ; as experience, he said, teaches that 
these defects are a great obstacle to the regularity of observance. * 

All the monasteries did not follow his Rule as to young persons, 
whom he did not permit to be admitted as Religious, till they had 
attained the proper age ; directing that their heads should be 
shaved, that they should put off their secular dress, and be attired 
in the coarse stuff used by the community. If persons belonging 
to the world, and if some Religious have their reasons why these 
regulations should not be complied with, it is nevertheless true, 
on the evidence of the Religious themselves, that pensioners dressed 
as those who lived in the world, without any vocation for the 
cloister, and often with dispositions quite opposed to such voca- 
tion, particularly when they have attained a certain age, are always 
the cause of irregularity in a regular community. The bishops 
who are well aware of this, have often miade wise and prudent 
regulations on the subject of these pensioners, but they have had 
great difficulty in compelling their observance. It is true, there 
are institutions of females which are established for the instruction 
of girls, and, in other orders, they are sometimes, as it were, com- 
pelled to take pensioners ; but in all these establishments it must 
be a subject requiring great watchfulness, and be one of great 
anxiety ; and we cannot but congratulate the Religious of St. Clare 
who adhere strictly to their Rule on this head, which is far more 
important than it may be thought. 

In that part in which St. Francis speaks of the confession of the 
sisters, f he makes a very useful remark, which may be of service 
to all persons of the sex ; that is. Not to say a single word in the 
confessional but what relates to the confession, and which has not 
a direct relation to the salvation of the soul. If the Religious 
would follow this advice literally, they would not be so long at 
their confessions, and would derive more fruit from it ; besides 
which, they would find it more ea;sy to be provided with confessors. 

The instructions which he gives to the abbess, J are equally 
good for all superiors. ''As soon as she is elected," says this 
Holy INIan, " let her reflect on the burthen which she takes upon 
her, and of which she is to render an account to God. Let her 
conform herself to the community in all things, in her clothing, 
in her food, at church, in the dormitory, in the infirmary ; let her 
preside less by her rank, than by the holiness of her conduct, in 
order that her sisters, seeing her example, may obey her more 
from affection than from fear ; let her be on her guard against 
particular friendships, lest, being more attached to some, she may 
give scandal to others ; let her be a source of consolation to the 

• Keg. wS. Clar. cap. ii. t Reg. S. Clar. cap. iii. t lb. cap. iv. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 295 

afflicted, so that she may be their last refuge, lest, if she does not 
assuage their grief, their weakness may cause them to fall into 
despair/' He recommends her to be of easy access to her sisters, 
to consider herself as their servant ; not to put herself in a passion 
at their faults, to correct them with humility and charity. Enter- 
ing upon the care of temporal things, he desires the abbess to 
consult the sisters on the affairs of the house, because it often 
happens that God discovers to the least, what is most for their 
advantage. He forbids her to contract any considerable debt, 
unless with the consent of the community, and from evident 
necessity, and, above all, not to receive any trust, which is always 
a subject of inconvenience and scandal. 

It is on these important principles of the religious state that he 
directs all the sisterhood to work together* and for the com- 
munity, and to have nothing of their own ; to go seldom to the 
grille, and to keep entirely away from it in Advent and Lent; 
never to go alone, and to converse, when there, without seeing or 
being seen ; never to speak at the gate of the monastery ; not to 
write, or to receive letters without leave of the abbess, and to be 
careful to keep enclosure carefully. 

His attention extends even to the lay-sisters f who serve the 
community out of the enclosure. ''Let them," he says, ''be 
guarded in their conduct with persons of the world, speaking as 
little as possible, in order to edify them. When they are under 
the necessity of going out, let them stop only where it is requisite ; 
above all, let them be very circumspect in regard to men, that 
they may not give the smallest scope for evil suspicions or evil 
talk. Let them not be so rash as to bring back to the monastery 
anything they may have heard out of it ; and let them understand 
that they are strictly forbidden to communicate out of doors 
anything which may pass within the walls of the convent, and 
with which the world might not be edified." No more suitable 
instructions could be prepared for lay-sisters of all convents 
of nuns. 

Finally, the holy Founder points out J the qualifications which 
the visitors, confessors, and other Religious ought to have, who are 
employed in giving spiritual or temporal aid to the sisters, "in 
order that all things," as St. Paul says, "maybe done decently 
and according to order." § 

For the rest, the strength of mind, discretion, and tender charity 
of St. Francis, is strikingly apparent in all he dictates, as to the 
imposition of penances, the dress of the sisters, and the care 
of the sick. 11 



* Reg. S. Clar. cap. vii, 5, 1,1 et seq. t Reg. S. Clar. cap, ix. 

t 11). Lip. xii. J I Cor. xiv. 40. || Reg, S. Clar. cap. viii^ et [yi. 



296 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

St. Clare says in her will, addressing herself to the sisters 
^'Our blessed Father, St. Francis, has written for us a form of life, 
principally that we may ever persevere in the practice of holy 
poverty, to which he has exhorted us, not only by his word and 
example, but by many writings which he has left us.* Pope 
Innocent IV expressly declares in the Bull f which he issued at 
the earnest entreaty of St. Clare, three days before her death, that 
the Rule w^hich he confirms was given them by St. Francis. All 
is his, except some very trifling things, in no way essential, which 
seem to have been added to it by Cardinal Ugolino, by St. Clare, 
and by the Pope. There are a number of monasteries in which 
it is observed in its full vigor, and it is called the First Rule of St. 
Clare, because none of the modifications are found in it, which 
were subsequently added to it by Cardinal Ugolino (when Pope, 
by the name of Gregory IX), by Innocent IV, in 1246, and by 
Urban IV, in 1264. 

The sanctit}^ of Elizabeth, the daughter of Andrew the Second, % 
king of Hungar}^, the wife of Louis, Landgrave of Thuringia and 
Hesse — § shone at this time with great splendor. Francis often 
testified to the cardinal protector, the great esteem in which he 
held her. What he principally admired in this princess was her 
humility, charitv^, mortification, and the love of poverty, m the 
midst of the grandeur of the world. One day, whilst they were 
conversing, the cardinal said that such virtue deserved that he 
should send her his cloak, that it was a present which was fitting, 
and that gratitude for all the favors w^hich the princess had 
bestowed on his Order, did not admit of his refusing it. Francis 
humbly declined doing this ; but the cardinal took the cloak 
from his back, and ordered him to send it to Elizabeth, || which 

* Wading ad ann. 1253. n. I, 5, et 6. 
tid. in Keg. St. Clar. argum. 

I He is surnamed Jerusalimitanus, because he took the Cross for the Holy 
Wars. His wife, the mother of St. Ehzabeth, was Queen Gertrude, 
daughter of Berthold. Duke of Carinthia. 

^ He was eminently endowed with all the qualifications of a great prince 
and a perfect Christian, He took the Cross for the Holy War. and died on 
the voyage, at Otranto, in Calabria, in the odor of sanctity, in 1227. The 
author of the History of the Crusades, says that he was equal in piety to his 
wife Elizabeth, and, on the testimony of the historian of the Landgraves of 
Thuringia, says, that it pleased God to give splendid proofs thereof, by 
miracles which were performed at his tomb. 

II The Rev. Father Archangel, a Religious penitent of the Third Order of 
St. Francis, who wrote the life of St. Elizabeth, says: "That the Saint 
accompanied this present with an admirable letter, written with that spirit of 
zeal, holiness, and love, by which his soul v/as penetrated, and that in the 
course of the letter he congratulated St. Elizabeth on all the graces she had 
received from God, and which the Divine mercy had enabled ner to turn to 
such profit.'' The writer quotes Wading, and the life of St. Elizabeth, which 
is in manuscript, at Louvain. Nevertheless, Wading does not mention any 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 297 

he did, Elizabeth received it with great veneration, she kept it 
as a precious pledge of ecclesiastical poverty, which she tenderly- 
loved, and which she embraced three years afterwards, when she 
heard of the death of the Landgrave, her husband. Being herself on 
the point of death, she gave it, as a mark of friendship, to one of 
her females, who at that sad moment asked her for a mark of her 
affection, and she said to her: *^ I leave you my cloak: don't 
regard ' the poorness of the texture, but reflect seriously on the 
value of such poverty. I declare solemnly, that my dearly 
beloved Jesus Christ was favorable to my wishes, and loaded me 
with comfort, every time * that, wearing this cloak, I sought to 
seek His adorable countenance." 

It was in this year, 1224, that the mar\^ellous apparition recorded 
by Wading was seen, Avhich is noticed as follows in the legend of 
St. Bonaventure : 

''Although Francis could not attend the provincial chapters, the 
order which he had laid down for these assemblies, the fervent 
prayers which he put up for their success, and the influence of 
the blessing which he gave them, were as if he were present at 
them. Sometimes even, God, by His almighty power, caused him 
to appear among them in a sensible manner, as it happened at the 
chapter at Aries. While that excellent preacher Anthony was dis- 
coursing to the brethren on the Passion of the Son of God, and on 
the inscription on His cross, 'JESUS OF NAZARETH, KING 
OF THE JEWS,' one of the Religious, named Monald, a man 
of exemplary virtue, moved by the Spirit of God to look towards 
the door of the chapter-house, saw the Blessed Francis, raised into 
the air with his arms extended in a cross, give his blessing to the 
assembly. They then became filled with great spiritual consola- 
tion, which was an interior testimonial assuring them of the 
presence of their Father, and confirming what Monald had seen. 
This became more certain, afterwards, by the avowal which 
Francis made respecting it. '' 

''We should have no difficulty in believing this," continues 
St. Bonaventure, "for God, by His almighty power, rendered the 



letter, ad ann. 1226, n. 61, althoui^h he ^ves the very words of the Louvani 
manuscripts. We may reasonably believe that a letter was sent with the 
cloak, but it must be admitted that it is not forthcoming, for if Wading had 
seen it in manuscript, we cannot doubt that he would either have copied the 
whole of it, or at least have given extracts from it. 

* In the manuscript Hfe of St. Elizabeth, which is at Louvain, we find, on 
the testimony of a celebrated preacher, whose name is brother Berthold, 
that he had seen and had this cloak in his hands, in a house of the Hospit- 
tallers of the Teutonic Order, in a place in the diocese of Spire, which he 
calls Alljum Castrum. 



298 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

holy Bishop St. Ambrose,* during a mysterious sleep, present at 
the funeral obsequies of St. Martin ; in a similar manner it was 
His pleasure that the truths announced by His preacher Anthony, 
on the subject of the cross of Jesus Christ, should receive gn^ater 
weight by the presence of His servant Francis, who carried the 
cross with such exemplary courage, and preached it with such 
zeal." 

Having given a Rule to the sisters of St. Damian, and trans- 
acted all that related to the three Orders, he recommended strongly 
to the vicar. Brother Elias, to attend carefully, and to see that 
everything was carried into effect, and then thought it necessary 
to take some time to attend to his own interior. For it was his 
custom to go from one good work to another, in which he 
imitated, St. Bonaventure says, the angels f whom Jacob saw in his 
dream, going up and down the mysterious ladder, the feet of which 
rested on the earth, but its summit reached the heavens. This 
angelic man so employed the time which was given him, in which 
to amass treasures of merit, that he was constantly occupied either 
in descending to his neighbor by the laborious ministries of charitv, 
or in elevating himself to God in the quiet exercise of contempla- 
tion. When circumstances had compelled him to give more time 
to the service of souls, he afterwards retired to some lonely and 
noiseless place, to remove from his own, by giving his thoughts 
solely to God, all the filth which might have attached itself to it, 
in his intercourse with men. Our Lord often gave His apostles 
examples of retreats, and they cannot be too oflen recommended 
to those who labor for the salvation of their neighbors. 

Francis, therefore, went with some of his brethren to meditate 
in the convent of Celles, near Cortona. He met on the road a 
lady of good family, who was very pious and in great affliction, 
having a husband who used her cruelly, and prevented her from 
serving God. She told him that she was come to pray to God for 
the conversion of her husband, and he made her this answer : 
*'Go in peace; and rest assured that your husband will soon 
afford you consolation ; only tell him from God and from me, 
that now is the time of mercy, and that afterwards will be the time 

* This marvellous event is recorded by St. Gregory of Tours and the 
tradition has been uniform and unfailing in the Churches of Tours and Milan. 
Cardinal Frederic Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, cousin and successor to 
St. Charles, maintained its correctness with pertinacity, against some critics 
of his age. Cardinal Baronius, takes a different view, because he asserts 
that St. Martin did not die till after St. Ambrose ; but the continuators of 
BoUandus proved clearly that St. Ambrose survived St. Martin by several 
months, at least; all these proofs are collected witli accuracy in a dissertation 
on the time of the death of St. Martin, which is at the end of his life, written 
by the Abbe Gervase, and printed at Tours in 1699. St. Gregor. Turon. De 
Mirac. S. Martin, lib. i, cap. v. t Genes, xxviii, 12. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 299 

of justice." The lady received the Father's blessing, and said 
what she had been desired to her husband. The Holy Ghost 
descended at the same moment on this man, and he became so 
changed, that he said to his wife in a mild tone of voice, " Madam, 
let us serve God and work out our salvation." He passed thus 
many years with her in continence, with which she had inspired 
him, and they died most holily on the same day. 

We saw in the first two Tertiaries, a wife sanctified by her 
husband. This is precisely what St, Paul says : * The one may 
contribute to the santification of the other. In fact, St. Chrysos- 
tom f thinks that a virtuous woman who is mild and prudent, is 
more likely to bring back a profligate husband to the service 
of God, than any other person ; and that the solid piety of a 
husband, with good manners and discreet firmness, may soften 
the asperity of an ill-tempered woman, or at least render her less 
fractious. 

All that Francis did at Celles, was to give himself up to con- 
templation ; and, in order that the place itself should be favorable 
to meditation, he resolved, after having been there a short time, 
to retire to the deseit of Mount Alvernia ; it was the Holy Ghost 
who inspired him with the desire to go thither, where he was to 
receive the glorious privilege of the stigmata. As he passed 
through the country of Arezzo, his great infirmities compelled 
him to ask for an ass to continue his journey. There was not one 
in the village, but a person offered him a horse, which he was 
under the necessity of accepting : it was the only time that he had 
been on horseback since his conversion ; for, whenever he had 
been forced to ride, he took the most despicable animal, in order 
to set an example to his brethren. In the village to which the 
horse was sent back, there was a woman who, for several days, was 
suffering cruelly from labor-pains, without being able to be 
delivered, so that no human hope remained of saving her life. 
The people of the place, seeing the horse brought back which had 
carried the Saint, took the bridle and placed it on the woman's 
bed, in full confidence that he who had had the use of it, would 
come to her aid ; and, in fact, she was immediately, most 
fortunately, delivered. This fact is one of those related by v'^t. 
Bonaventurc. 

On Mount Alvernia Francis reaped extraordinary consolations 
in meditation ; he was filled with ardent desires of heaven, and, at 
the same time, he felt that the celestial gifts were communicated 
to him in greater abundance. These interior feelings which threw 
his soul into ecstasies, raised his body into the air to greater or less 

* I Cor. vii, 14. 

t Si. C'lirysos. Ffoinil. 19^ in cap. vii, I Cor. 



300 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

height, in proportion to their degree, as if an extreme disgust for 
every thing that was connected with the earth, gave him a stimukis 
to raise himself to his celestial home. 

. Brother Leo, his secretary and his confessor, attests to have seen 
him raised sometimes to the height of a man, so that they could 
touch his feet, sometimes, above the tallest beech-trees, and some- 
times so high, that he was elevated out of sight. When he was 
not raised higher than the height of a man, Leo kissed his feet 
and watered them with his tears, with tender devotion, saying the 
following prayer : ** My God, be merciful to me, a sinner such as 
I am, by the merits of this Holy Man, and deign to communicate 
to me some small portion of Thy grace." When he lost sight of 
him, he prostrated himself and prayed, on the spot on which^ 
he had seen him elevate himself. 

St. Thomas* and many others believed that St. Paul in his 
rapture may have been elevated in body and soul into the third 
heaven, that is, into the Empyrean, into Paradise, into the place 
where the angels and the blessed are ; and we must not call this 
in question, since the apostle himself says, that he does not know 
whether he was raised up in the body or out of the body. St, 
Theresa, "j* whose works are published by authority, says that she 
had sometimes raptures in which she was raised from the ground 
by a supernatural power, whatever resistance she might make ; that 
others saw her in this state, and she saw herself in it. We may 
therefore believe that God raised the body of His servant Francis, 
while his soul was in raptures by interior operations ; more par- 
ticularly, as the thing is attested by so trustworthy a witness as Leo, 
who certifies having seen it with his own eyes. *'God," says St 
Theresa, ^ ' grants extraordinary favors to a soul, to detach it en- 
tirely from everything that is earthly, by the body itself, so that life 
becomes burthensome to it, and that it suffers a sort of torment 
brought on by a violent desire of possessing God, which is a 
martyrdom both agreeable, and, at the same time, painful ; but we 
must be under the impression, that with ordinary grace, which God 
increases in proportion to faithfulness, we may attain to an entire 
disengagement from worldly affairs, and to that longing for heaven 
which, as Christians, we are obliged to feel. 

One day, when Francis was restored from one of the ecstasies 
which had raised him from the ground, Jesus Christ appeared seated 
at a low stone table, where the Saint was in the habit of taking his 
meals, ?ind speaking to him with the familiarity of a fiiend, as to 
the protection which He proposed to give to the Order, after his 
death. He made known to him the following points : first, that 

* la, 236, QuDest lyt, art. 5, et 6 ; et in 2 Cor, 12, lect. i, 2 Cor. xii, 2. 
t Life of St. Theresa, ch. 20. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



SOI 



the Order would last to the end of the world ; secondly, that those 
who should persecute the Order, would not be long-lived, unless 
they became converted ; the third and fourth points, related to 
favors which our Saviour promised not only to the Friars Minor, 
but to those who were sincerely attached to them. 

These favors are very great, but there is nothing incredible in 
them. As to the first, although it be true that the Order of Friars 
Minor may be abolished by the Pope, as may every other order, 
yet there is every reason to believe that it will exist continually in 
the Church, out of respect for the Gospel on which it is wholly 
based ; and it is not impossible that this may be God's will. As 
to the second, it would be by no means surprising that the Divine 
Justice should punish, by a premature death, those who should be 
so irreligious, and have so much malignity, as obstinately to per- 
secute an Order which was instituted to do good to all mankind, 
and to be of service to the entire Church. The prophet says,* 
that the Lord sometimes gives sensible marks of His protection to 
the just, by cutting off from sanguinary and disingenuous men the 
moiety of their days. As to the graces which Jesus Christ promises 
to the Friars Minor and to the friends of their Order, we may 
easily understand that there are some peculiar to the Religious who 
have the fortitude to embrace a line of life wholly evangelical and 
apostolical ; and that God grants also special graces to those Chris- 
tians, who, from a principle of religion, become friendly to this 
Institution ; but it must be borne in mind that these graces re- 
quire, under all circumstances, a free and faithful cooperation, 
without which there is nothing to hope for, as to the next world, 
in whatever state of life the party may be. It would be a gross 
and most deplorable illusion, to flatter one's self that, not living as 
we ought to live, we might be saved merely because of being a 
Religious of the Order of St. Francis, or, because we have a friendly 
feeling for the Order. 

When our Lord had disappeared from the table, f Brother Leo, 
not knowing what had happened, was about to prepare it, as usual, 
for their meal, but Francis stopped him, saying: ''It must be 
washed with water, with wine, with milk, with oil, and with balm, 
for Jesus Christ has condescended to sit on it, and to make known 
to me from thence what will be communicated to you hereafter." 



* Ps. liv, 24. 

t This tah)le was for near two hundred years in the sanctuary of the church 
of Mount Alvernia; but as pieces were constantly broken off to carry away 
from motives of devotion, for the last three hundred years, it has been placed 
in a chapel of the same church, where, surrounded by an iron gratinj;, it is 
seen with tlie following inscription: "Table of St. Francis, on which he had 
extraordinary apparitions, and which he consecrated by pouring oil on it, 
saying, 'This is the altar of God.' " 



302 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

As Brother Leo had not the articles he required, he only took oil, 
as Jacob had done, to consecrate this table to the Lord, and, 
having poured it upon it, he pronounced these words : ''This is 
the altar of God."* He then told his companion the four favors 
which had been promised and added that there was a fifth which 
he should not repeat ; it was thought that it was out of humility ; 
for, after his death, it was revealed to Brother Leo, that it con- 
sisted in that God, in consequence of the merits of the Saint, 
had deferred punishing the countr}^ by famine, to give sinners 
time to be converted ; and, as they did not avail themselves of it, 
after his deaih, this scourge fell on the land, and was followed by 
a great mortality. 

Towards the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, he 
retired into the most secret part of the mountains, where his 
companions built for him a small and unpretending cell. He 
remained there with Leo, having forbidden the others to return to 
him till the feast of St Michael, and on no account to permit 
any persons whomsoever to have access to him. It was then the 
time of the fast which he prescribed for himself, in honor of the 
Archangel ; one of the nine periods of fasting he observed during 
the year, which will be noticed elsewhere. Proposing to fast this 
year more rigorously than in the preceding years, he directed 
Brother Leo to bring him nothing but bread and water once a 
day, and that, towards evening, and place it at the threshold of his 
cell. "And when you come to me for Matins," he added, " don't 
come into the cell, but only say in a loud voice, ' Domine, labia 
mea aperies ; ' and if I answer, ' Et os meum annuntiabit laudem 
tuam,' you will come in, otherwise you will go back.'' His pious 
companion, who had nothing more at heart than to obey him, 
and be useful to him, complied minutely with all he said ; but he 
was often obliged to return in the night, because the Holy Man 
was in ecstasy, and did not hear him. 

The reward of his solicitude was to be freed from a mental 
agitation, which he had found very troublesome ; although it was 
not a temptation of the flesh, he nevertheless was ashamed of it, 
and did not dare make his Father acquainted with it ; he only 
wished to have something written by him, which he thought 
would enable him to overcome the temptation, or at least enable 
him to bear it with less difficulty. The Father, knowing by 
revelation the ^tate of his mind and his wish, desired him to 
bring him paper and ink, and he put on the top of the paper, in 
large characters, the letter "Tau," after which he wrote some 
praises of God, with this blessing : " May the Lord bless you and 
take you into His keeping ; may He show you His countenance, 

•Genes, xxviii^ iS, and xxxv, 14. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 303 

and take pity on you ; may He turn His eyes towards you, and 
give you His peace. May God bless Brother Leo.''* "Take this 
paper/' he said, ''and keep it carefully all your life." Leo had 
no sooner received it than his temptation left him ; he preserved 
it carefully till his death, knowing the virtue that was attached to 
it. This writing is still extant at Assisi, in the sanctuary of the 
Church of St. Francis, and God has permitted it to be frequently 
used for the cure of diseases. St. Bonaventure says that, in his 
days, it had been the means by which several miracles had been 
effected. 

Francis experienced on Mount Alvernia, what had occurred to 
St. Anthony f in the desert of Thebais : after having been the 
means of freeing others from the attacks of the devil, he was 
exposed to them himself The subtle spirit often suggested evil 
thoughts to him. He placed horrid spectres before him, and he 
even visibly struck him severe blows. Once in a very narrow 
path, and on the edge of a deep precipice, he appeared to him in 
a hideous figure, and threw himself upon him to cast him down ; 
as there was nothing by which he could support himself, Francis 
placed his two hands on the rock, J which was very hard and 
slippery, and they sank into it, as if it had been soft wax, and 
this preserved him from falling. An angel appeared to him to 
put away his fright, and to console him, causing him to hear 
celestial music, the sweetness of which in so far suspended the 
powers of his soul, that it seemed to him that it would have been 
separated from his body, had it lasted much longer. 

He resumed his prayer in which he returned thanks for having 
escaped the danger, and for the consolation he had received ; 
then he set about considering what might be the will of God. 
He was not, as St. Bonaventure remarks, like to those inquisitive 
minds, who rashly endeavor to scrutinize the ways of God, § and 
who are overwhelmed with His glory ; but as a faithful and 
prudent servant, he endeavored to discover the intention of his 
Master, only from the anxiety he felt to conform himself to it in 
all things. A divine impression induced him to think that, if he 
opened the Book of the Gospel, he would learn from Jesus Christ 
what in him and for him would be most agreeable to God. 
Having, therefore, again prayed with great fervor, he told Brother 
Leo to take the New Testament from the altar, and open it ; Leo 
opened it three times' in honor of the most Holy Trinity, and, 

* Num. vi, 24, 25, 26; Ps. Ixvi, I. 

t Vit. S. Anton, n. 48 ct 51, torn, i, Oper. S. Athan. 

\ Wading quotes a writer who died in the fifteenth century, who says that 
the impressions of the Saint's hands were still seen on the rock. Ad anu, 
1224, n. 8. 

4 I^ov. XXV, 27. 



304 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

each time, he opened it at the Passion of our Blessed Lord. 
Francis, who was filled with the Spirit of God, understood from 
that, that, as he had imitated Jesus Christ in the actions of His 
life, he must now conform himself to His sufferings, and in the 
pains of His Passion. 

Although his body was greatly weakened by the austerities he 
practised, by which he incessantly carried the cross of the Son of 
God, he was not alarmed at the idea of having new sufferings to 
endure ; on the contrar)^, he put on fresh courage for martyrdom, 
in which, he thought, consisted that conformity to the Passion of 
Jesus Christ, according to the wish he had three times entertained 
of exposing himself to it For the love he had for the good 
Jesus, remarks St. Bonaventure, was so lively, that the following 
words of the Canticles, seemed to be applied to him : " His lamps 
are lamps of fire and flame.''* The charity which inflamed his 
heart was so ardent and forcible, that all the waters of tribulation, 
and all the fur}' of persecution would have been unable to extin- 
guish it. It is in this sense that St. Paul said: *'Who shall 
separate us from the love of Christ .?* shall tribulation.'^ or distress .'* 
or famine ? or nakedness ? or danger ? or persecution ? or the 
sword ? " f Such is the exalted love J which Christians should 
have for God, if they desire to love Him eternally ; their hearts 
must be ready and willing to make ever)' sacrifice, and to suffer 
everv'thing in order to preserve this divine love. 

Some days after the opening of the book of the Gospel, Leo 
had come at midnight to say aloud, at the door of Francis' cell, 
*' Domine labia mea aperies,'' according to the order he had 
received ; and receiving no reply, he had the curiosity to advance 
a step further, and to look through the chinks of the door, to see 
what was going on. He saw the cell entirely illuminated, and a 
bright ray of light came from heaven, and rest upon the head of 
the Saint ; he heard voices which made questions and answers ; 
and he remarked that Francis, who was prostrate, often repeated 
these words : '*Who art Thou, O my God, and my dear Lord .^ 
and who am L^ a worm, and Thy unworthy servant" He also 
saw him put his hand three times into his bosom, and each time 
stretch it out to the flame. 

The light disappeared, the conversation ceased, and Leo wished 
to retire quickly ; but the Father heard him, and rebuked him 
severely for having watched him, and thus seen what ought to 
have been secret Leo asked pardon, and having obtained it, he 



* Cant, viii, 6, 7. 
t Rom. viii, 35. 

X See Bourdaloue's beautiful Sermon on the Love of God ; it is one of the 
most Ui^efiil instructions that can be given to Christians. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 305 

humbly entreated his master to explain to him, for the greater 
glory of God, the things he had seen, which Francis did in these 
terms : — 

''God manifested himself to me in the flame which you saw ; 
He explained many mysteries to me, by His infinite goodness, 
and He communicated to nie an immense knowledge of himself, 
and I was so overpowered with admiration, that I exclaimed : 
* Who art Thou, Lord, and who am I ? ' For nothing has tended 
more to my knowledge of what I am, than the contemplation of 
the infinite and incomprehensible abyss of the perfections of God, 
although from afar, and under obscure veils. 

''The Lord then having condescended to discover to me, as 
much as I am capable of knowing of His infinite greatness, I 
could not avoid making this reflection ; that it is certain that every 
creature is a mere nonentity before God. While I was thus 
meditating, it was His pleasure to direct that, for all the good He 
had done me, I should make Him some offering ; I replied that 
my poverty was so great, that except the poor habit which I wore, 
I had nothing in the world but my body and my soul, which I 
had long since dedicated to Him. The Lord then urged me to 
offer Him what was in my bosom, and I was surprised to find 
there a beautiful piece of gold, which I immediately offered to 
Him ; I found three pieces successively, which I presented to 
Him in the same manner ; it was when you saw me extend my 
hand in the flame. I gave thanks to God for His many benefits, 
and for the means He put in my power to make Him some 
acknowledgment. He gave me to understand that the three 
pieces of gold, which were highly agreeable to Him, represented 
the three modes of life which it had been His will that I should 
institute, and also the three vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity, 
when they are kept as they ought to be by religious persons. " 
After this recital he sent Leo away, and forbade his prying in future 
into what he should be doing in private. 

When he said that nothing had tended so much to the knowl- 
edge of what he was, as the contemplation of the infinite perfections 
of God, he well knew that the best mode to attam the knowledge 
of God is to know one's self, as St. Augustine and St. Bernard* 
teach us ; that is to say, that in order to our obtaining pecuUar 
lights which open to us the grandeur of God, it is necessary to 
be thoroughly impressed with our own vileness, be sensible of 
our misery, and annihikite ourselves, because the Divine Majesty 
only communicates itself to the humble. But St. Francis pro- 
posed to himself to explain that, when it pleases God to manifest 



* S. Aug. Tract, xyiii, in Joan. n. 10. S. Bernard de Div. Term, ii, n. I, 
in Canl. Serm. xxxvi, n. 6. 



306 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

himself in some manner to a soul which is duly sensible of its 
nothingness, it is better impressed with its own nothingness, 
by the disproportion it sees between the Sovereign Being and 
His creature, which discovers to it a thousand imperfections 
which it was not previously aware of, as a ray of the sun, 
penetrating into a room, discovers a multitude of atoms of 
which we were previously unaware. We may also form to 
ourselves an idea of it by our knowledge of human ignorance ; 
a half-learned man is less sensible of his ignorance, and some- 
times he is not at all aware of it ,- he thinks he knows everything ; 
but a veiy learned man knows that he is ignorant of an infinity 
of things, and finds his mind very confined. So also souls 
which are interiorly enlightened as to the greatness of the 
Divinity, are more perfectly aware of their own nothingness, 
and are more humble than those who have not similar views. 
1 he mode adopted by the former is to dive into its own 
nothingness by the light of faith, to humble itself continually, 
in order to attain to a more exalted idea of the greatness of God 
and to repeat frequently this prayer of St. Augustine : ''O God, 
who art always the same ! may I know myself, may I know 
Thee."* 

The self-knowledge which St. Francis possessed in such per- 
fection, prepared him sufficiently for the signal favor which God 
proposed to confer upon him, according to the principle of St. 
Augustine, f that deep foundations are requisite for a building 
of great height. 

About the festival of the Exaltation of the Cross, which is on 
the fourteenth of September (it is believed that it was on the 
eve), an angel appeared to him and gave him notice, as he 
afterwards communicated to some of his companions, to prepare 
himself for all that God would do for him. ^'I am prepared 
for everything," he replied, ''and I shall not in any way 
oppose His holy will, provided he condescends to assist me 
with His grace. Although I am a useless man, and unworthy 
that God should cast a thought on me, nevertheless, as I am 
His servant, I beg He may act by me, according to His good 
pleasure. " 

This generous concurrence, which had martyrdom in its view, 
was the last disposition which the Almighty required previous to 
giving to Francis the peculiar and signal prerogative of the 
stigmata, that is to say, previous to imprinting on his body the 
five wounds of our Saviour Jesus Christ. We are about to put 
on record this marvellous event as nearly as possible in the very 

* S. Aug. Soliloq. lib. ii, n. I, torn, i, Oper. 
t Id. Serm. Ixix ii, 2. Edit. Beiied. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



3<^7 



words of St. Bonaventure, * which we have extracted from his two 
legends. He does not name the precise day, but Wading assigns 
good reasons for thinking it occurred on the festival of the 
Exaltation of the Cross. 

''Francis, the servant and truly faithful minister of Jesus Christ, 
being one morning in prayer on one side of the mountain of 
Alvernia, elevating himself to God by the seraphic fervor of his 
desires, and by the motives of tender and affectionate compassion, 
transforming himself into Him who, by the excess of His charity, 
chose to be crucified for us ; he saw, as it were, a seraph, having 
six brilliant wings, and all on fire, descending towards him from 
the height of heaven. This seraph came with a most rapid flight 
to a spot in the air, near to where the Saint was, and then was 
seen between his wings the figure of a crucified Man, who had 
his hands and feet extended and fastened to a cross. His wings 
were so arranged that he had two of them on his head, two were 
stretched out to fly with, and he covered his whole body with 
the two others. 

''At the sight of such an object, Francis was extraordinarily 
surprised ; joy, mingled with grief and sorrow, spread over his 
soul ; the presence of Jesus Christ, who manifested himself to 
him under the figure of a seraph in so marvellous a manner, and 
with such familiarity, and by whom he found himself considered 
so favorably, caused in him an excess of pleasure ; but the 
sorrowful spectacle of His crucifixion filled him with compassion, 
and his soul felt as if it was pierced through with a sword. Above 
all, he admired with deep concern that the infirmity of His 
sufferings should appear under the figure of a seraph, well know- 
ing that this does not agree with His state of immortality ; and 
he could not comprehend the intention of the vision, when our 
Lord, who appeared outwardly, communicated to him interiorly, 
as to His friend, that He had been placed before him in order to 
let him know that it was not by the martyrdom of the flesh, but 
by the inflammation of the soul, that he was to be wholly trans- 
formed into a perfect resemblance to Jesus Christ crucified. 

"The vision vanished, after having had a secret and familiar 
conference with him, leaving his soul filled with seraphic ardor, 
and imprinting on his body a figure similar to that of the crucifix, 
as if his flesh, like softened wax, had received tlie impression of the 
letters of a seal. For the marks of the nails immediately began 
to show themselves on his hands and feet, such as he had seea 

*They call his second Legend, the abridgment which he made of the first, 
in order that it might be read in the Divine Office. All that is said of the 
stigmata in either of them, is narrated with great exactness. Those who 
have only read the small Legend of the Office, must not be surprised to fmd 
some trifling circum.st.inccs in it, which are not in the more extended one. 



308 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

them on the figure of the crucified man. His feet and hands 
were seen to be perforated by nails in then- middle ; the heads of 
the nails, round and black, were on the inside of the hands, and 
on the upper parts of the feet ; the points, which were rather long, 
and which came out on the opposite sides, were turned and raised 
above the flesh, from which they came out. There was, likewise, 
on his right side * a red wound, as if it had been pierced with 
a lance, and from this wound there often oozed a sacred blood, 
which soaked his tunic, and anything he wore round his middle.'' 

This is the new prodigy which Jesus Christ chose to exhibit in 
favor of Francis, in order to render him more like to himself 
He marked hiiVi and ornamented him with His own wounds, by 
a singular and glorious prerogative which had never, previously, 
been conceded to any one, and which justly excites the admiration 
of the Christian world. St. Bonaventure is of opinion that all 
human encomium falls short of what it deserves. In fact, in the 
midst of all the marvels which we find in the life of St. Francis, 
we are compelled to admit that this is the one which, without any 
exaggeration, may be termed incomparable. What can there be 
so beautiful as to be visibly clothed with Jesus Christ, to bear on 
his body the lively resemblance of those wounds which are the 
price of our redemption, the source of life, and the pledge of 
salvation ? What interior conformity must the SeiTant have had 
with his Master, to have deserved to have so marked a one ex- 
teriorly, for, no doubt, the one was in proportion to the other! 
This faithful Servant having embraced the cross from the very 
commencement of his conversion, he carried it in his heart, in 
his mind, in his body, and in all his senses ; all his love or his 
desires were centred in the cross, it was the standard of his 
militia. Therefore did Jesus Christ, whose goodness appears 
with magnificence towards those who love Him, after having 
honored the zeal of Francis by various apparitions in His cruci- 
fied state, chose, as a crowning of all His favors, that he should be 
himself crucified, in order that, as the love of the cross constituted 
his merit before God, the glory of being so miraculously fastened 
to it, should render him admirable in the sight of mankind. 

Such was the sort of torment which God reserved for him ia 
order to satisfy the extreme desire he had to suffer martyrdom, 
on which St. Bonaventure exclaims: ^'O truly fortunate man, 
whose flesh not having been tortured by the racks of a tyrant, has, 

* Saint Bonaventure says in the 13th chapter of his Legend, **Dextruin 
quoque latus, quasi lancea transfixum, rubra cicatrice abductum erat;'' and in 

the 14th chapter he says: *' Vulnus lateris plaga lateris ; " which makes 

it clear that by the word *' Cicatrice " he meant a wound, and an open 
wound. Could he have had any other meaning, he who adds that blood 
o/Un issued from it ? 



II 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 3O9 

nevertheless, borne the impress of the Lamb that was slain ! O 
fortunate soul, who hast not lost the palm of martyrdom, although 
it was not separated from the body by the sword of the persecutor ! ' 
Must we not also admit that the impression of the five wounds of 
our Saviour Jesus Christ on his body was a true martyrdom — a 
precious martyrdom ; rigorous in one sense, and the more so, as it 
was not the consequence of the cruelty of executioners, but was 
owing to darts of divine love, and to the very influence of the Son 
of God, the operation of which is most powerful ; sweet and 
delicious in another sense, and the more so, as it was the effect of 
a most affectionate communication, and brought about more 
intimate relations ? Our Saviour, thus, in some decree, represented 
in His creature the situation in which He had been on the cross, 
enjoying sovereign beatitude, while He suffered all the pains and 
violence of the execution. 

It was in all probability after this favor of the stigmata, that 
Francis composed the two Italian canticles which are found 
amongst his works. In the first, * the burden of which is, ' ' In 
foco Tamor mi mise, in foco Tamor mi mise,'' he describes very 
practically, with figurative and very lively expressions, the struggle 
he had with divine love, and the attacks he had himself made on 
that love, the wounds which he received, the flames by which his 
heart was kindled, and the state of languor and faintness to which 
he found himself reduced, and, finally, the strength which Jesus 
Christ had imparted to him, with a tranquillity of feeling exceed- 
ingly refreshing. In the second, f which is much longer than the 
first, he describes the strength, elevation, and tenderness, the 
vehemence of the divine love in his heart ; he enters into conver- 
sation with Jesus Christ, who answers him ; and this love con- 
stantly increasing, he declares that he can resist no longer, that he 
consents to everything, and that he wishes no other relief than to 
die of love. 

St. Theresa, speaking of her situation at prayer, in which she 
often found herself, as it were, intoxicated with the love of God, 
and quite beside herself, said : J ''I know a person who, without 
being a poet, sometimes made very good extempore verses in 

* It was translated into Latin by H. Chifellius of Antwerp, he who has 
written the war of Grenada in heroic verse; the translation is amongst the 
works of St. Francis, which were published by Wading in 1623. 

t Father James Lampugnano, an Italian, of the Society of jesus, translated' 
this into several sorts of Latin verse, and it is thought tliat it could luU bo 
better done. The translation of this is found with that of the first canticle. 

X It is in the sixteenth chapter of her Life, written by herself, trnnslaled 
by the Abbe Chanut. one o'f the three Visitors-General of the French Car- 
melites, printed in 1691, which is in every respect much superior to that of 
M. Arnauld d'Andilly of 1670. 



3IO S. FRAN'CIS OF ASSISI. 

spiritual canticles,* which expressed beautifully her sufferings. It 
was not from her mind that they originated ; but, in order to the 
glory so delicious a suffering caused her, she laid her complaint 
in this manner before God. She would, have wished to tear 
herself to pieces to show the pleasure she experienced in this 
deHghtful pain." These spiritual and divine emotions are neither 
known nor relished by profane minds and hearts, who only 
learn from their own corruption, and from the pestiferous books 
which encourage it, the extravagances and transports of criminal 
love ; but pure minds, who know what it is to love God, and to 
be loved by Him, are not astonished at the effects which this holy 
reciprocated love produced in a St. Francis, in a St. Theresa, and 
in many others. Neither is it surprising that the saints who are 
full of the thoughts of God, should have had recourse to poetry 
.to express the feelings of their hearts, since the sacred writers, 
inspired by the Spirit of God, have composed many of the sacred 
books in poetry, f and that the doctors J of the Church have 
addressed to the Almighty in verse prayers full of the tenderest 
sentiments of piety ; it is also v/hat is practised by the universal 
Church in her Divine Office. 

The precious wounds which Francis had received, were a subject 
of great embarrassment to him ; for, in the first place, he wished 
to conceal them wholly, well knowing that it is "proper to con- 
ceal the secrets of the king," as the angel said to Tobit ; § and, in 
the second place, he saw that' the wounds were too conspicuous to 
remain long hidden from those of his companions who had familiar 
intercourse with him. His hesitation was, whether he should tell 



* They are the sort of Spanish verses called Closes, in which one verse is 
repeated at the end of each strophe. The repetition in the glose of S. Theresa 
is, '^Que muero porque non muero : " *' I die of grief for not dying.'' They 
were printed at Antwerp in the year 1649, in Spanisli, with her other works. 
M. de la Mannoye, of the French Academy, has made an excellent translation 
of them in French ; it would be very desirable that the two Canticles com- 
posed by St. Francis were also translated by as clever a poet. See the 
Memoirs of Trevaux, 17, v. 2, Sept. art. 8. 

t See Dom. Calmet's Dissertation on the Poetry of the Ancient Hebrews, 
at the beginning of his Commentary on Exodus and on the Psalms, tome ii. 

i: St. Cregory of Nazianzen, vSt. Ambrose, St. Paulin, and othei's. Calmet 
complains, with reason, that wits who are good poets attach themselves to 
trifles, or to subjects which excite or flatter the passions. He says that the 
advantages they have received from Cod in their poetic talents, ought to be 
employed in rendering the truths and maxims of religion agreeal)le. How- 
ever, he admits that Christian poetry up to this time had not been successful, 
which he attributes to the corruption of the age, and to the licentiousness of 
the upper classes. And indeed this is the principal cause; but it lias this 
further effect, that the truths of the orthodox faitl\ and the maxims of Chris- 
tian morality are not relished either in verse or prose. Dissert, sur la Poesie 
des Hebreux. 

\S Tob. xii 7. 



S. FRAN'OIS OF ASSISI. 3II 

them what had occurred, in confidence, or whether he should be 
silent on the subject, for fear of making known the secrets of the 
Lord. He called some of them to him and laid before them his 
difficulty in general terms, and solicited their advice. Brother 
llluminatus, he from whom he had received such excellent advice 
in the camp before Damietta, opining, from the look of astonish- 
ment which he remarked in him, that he had seen somethmg 
wonderful, said: ^^ Brother, you ought to know that it is not 
only for your own edification, but for that of others also, that God 
sometimes discovers his secrets to you, for which reason you 
should be fearful of being reprimanded for having hidden the 
talent, unless you make known what is to be of service to 
many. "* 

Francis was struck with this advice, and although on other 
occasions he was in the habit of saying with Isaiah, * ' My secret 
is to myself,'' t he communicated to them all that had passed in 
the apparition, but always with great fear ; adding, that He who 
had appeared to him, had communicated things to him which, 
while he lived, he never would disclose to any one. We must 
believe, as St. Bonaventure remarks, that the seraph whom he 
saw attached to the cross in so wonderful a manner, or rather, 
Jesus Christ Himself in the appearance of a seraph, had said to 
him, as he had to St. Paul: "Secret words, which it is not 
granted to man to utter ; ' J either because there are no words in 
which they can be expressed, or, as a respected author § thinks, 
because there are no souls sufficiently disengaged from sensible 
objects, and sufficiently pure, to understand them. 

The confidence which Francis had reposed in his companions, 
did not prevent his taking every precaution possible to hide, as 
much as it was in his power, the sacred marks with which the 
King of kings had secretly favored him. From that time forward, 
he kept his hands covered, so that the nails should not be seen, 
and he wore slippers, which covered those of his feet. Wading || 
saw in the monastery of the Poor Clares of Assisi, the sort of slippers 
which St. Clare made for her spiritual Father, so neatly contrived 
that the upper part covered the heads of the nails, and, the under- 
neath being somewhat raised, the points did not prevent his 
walking ; for these miraculous nails did not take from him the 
use of his hands and feet, although it Wdo painful to him to use 
them. 

But all the precautions which his humility had suggested, became 
useless, as it is God's province to reveal, for His greater glory, the 

* Malt. XXVI, 26. t Isa. xxiv, 16. t2 Cor. xii, 4. 

^ Ken^xions Morales sur le Nouveau Testament. A Paris chez Montalan. 
1714 el 1716. (j Wading, ad ann. 1224. n. 23. 



312 S. FRAN'CIS OF ASSISI. 

wonderful things wnich He does. The Lord Himself, who had 
secretly marked on Francis the impressions of His Passion, by their 
means worked miracles, which manifestly disclosed their hidden 
and marvellous virtue. Moreover, the saintly man could not 
prevent his wounds from being seen and touched by persons 
whose veracity cannot be called in question, and who rendered 
public testimony thereto ; besides which, after his death, all the 
inhabitants of Assisi saw, touched, and kissed them. The Sov- 
ereign Pontiffs of those days were so convinced of this admirable 
event, that they issued Bulls to exalt it by their praise, and to repress 
by their authority those who refused credence to the fact, because 
they had not seen it with their own eyes. Pope Alexander IV 
certified it, as having been an eye-witness to it, in a sermon and in 
a Bull ; and St. Bonaventure says that the proofs then collected 
made it so certain, that they were sufficient to dispel ever}' shade of 
doubt. This degree of certainty is still further enhanced and 
rendered more respectable, since Popes Benedict XI, Sixtus IV, 
and Sixtus V have consecrated and canonized the impression of 
the stigmata on the body of St. Francis, by having instituted a par- 
ticular festival in their honor, which is found in the Roman 
Martyrolog}^* on the 17th of September, and which is kept in the 
universal Church. 

There is so much to be said on this interesting subject, that we 
have thought it useful to give a particular history of it at the end 
of this work, in which we shall invincibly demonstrate the truth 
of the stigmata of St. Francis, against the impiety of heretics and 
libertines, against hard believers, against the malignity of certain 
critics, who are even in some sense worse than the former ; in ' 
which we shall show that these holy wounds are calculated to 
enkindle the love of Jesus Christ crucified in the hearts of the 
faithful. 

The forty days which Francis had resolved to pass in solitude 
and fasting having terminated on Michaelmas Day, this new man, 
whom perfect love had transformed by a lively resemblance into 
Him whom he loved, descended from the mountain, carr}'ing with 
him the image of Jesus Christ crucified, not modelled by the hand 
of a workman on wood or stone, but staniped on his wQry flesh by 
the finger of the living God Himself, as St. Bonaventure expresses 
it He became more partial than ever to Mount Alverno, where 
he had received this sacred image, and recommended to his 
brethren to cherish great respect for this holy place. 

As he descended the mountain, he met a number of the country 
people who had already heard of the marvellous occurrence ; it is 
probable that God had informed the people of it by some extra- 

* Baron, not. in Martyrol. Rom. 17 Sept. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISL 



3^3 



ordinary manifestation. At the time when it occurred, they saw at 
break of day the mountain illuminated by a most brilliant light, 
and what they heard, informed them of the reason. They wished 
to kiss his hands ; but they were tied round with bandages, and he 
only offered them the tips of his fingers. 

In a village near Arezzo,they brought him a child of about eight 
years of age, who had been dropsical for four years, whom he cured 
instantaneously by touching him. He went afterwards to Mont- 
aigne, where Count Albert, the lord of that place, who was his 
good friend, and at Avhose house he often took his bed, received 
him with great pleasure. But the Count was distressed to hear 
him say that his infirmities would not allow him to return there 
any more, and that the time of his death was hastening on. To 
mitigate the grief of such melancholy tidings, he entreated the 
saint to leave him some memorial of their friendship ; to which 
Francis replied, that he had nothing to give but the miserable 
habit he had on, but that he would willingly leave it him, provided 
he could get another. 

The change was soon effected ; and it is not to be told how 
much Albert prized the habit in which Francis had received the 
impression of the precious pledges of our redemption. After the 
death of St. Francis he enfolded this poor habit in rich stuffs of 
silk and gold, and he placed it with great veneration on the altar 
of the church. The Lords of Montaigne, from father to son, had 
it long in their possession ; and it, at length, came, in the manner 
related by Wading, into the possession of the Grand Dukes of 
Tuscany, who preserve it as a precious relic, which is only shown 
after respectful ceremonies. 

The great infirmities which the man of God suffered, obliged 
him to take an ass to carry him from Montaigne to Mount Casal, 
through the borough of Saint Sepulchre. When he reached the 
latter place, which is very populous, the crowd surrounded him, 
touched him, and pressed upon him, but he was insensible of it ; 
he was as a dead person, not aware what was doing to him, inso- 
much that, having proceeded a good way from thence, and com- 
ing to himself, as one returned from the other world, he inquired 
of some lepers* at the door of the hospital, whether they should 
soon get to Saint Sepulchre. His mind, contemplating, says St. 
Bonaventure, with deep attention the brilliant lights of heaven, 
had not noticed the difference of time, place, or persons ; so 
penetrated was he with divine communications, that he was not 
aware of what passed around him. 

On reaching Mount Casal, he learned that one of his religious 
was suffering under an extraordinary disorder, which some con- 

* These hospitals are called in French *' Maladeries," or '^ Lepros^ries." 

14 



314 ^- TRANCIS OF AS5ISI. 

sidered to be epilepsy, and others thought it a true pase of posses- 
sion by the devil, for he had all the violent contortions of those 
possessed. The Father, who was full of tender compassion for 
the suffering, was greatly afflicted at seeing one of his children in 
this deplorable state, and he sent him a mouthful of the bread he 
was eating, the virtue of which was so great that, as soon as the 
sick man had sv>'allowed it, he was cured, and thenceforward had 
no relapse of the disorder. 

From Mount Casal Francis went to Casteilo, and at the house 
where he went to lodge, he was required to lend his aid to a 
female whom the devil possessed, and compelled to talk without 
ceasing. The ser\'ant of God with great prudence first sent one 
of his companions to see and hear her, to examine into the case, 
to see whether it was really one of possession, or whether the 
woman was not counterfeiting. She gnashed her teeth ; she 
imitated the cry of an elephant with a dreadful countenance ; she 
affected to laugh when she saw the religious, and ordered him to 
go away, saying that she did not care about him, but she was 
afraid of him who hid himself. The saint, who w^as in prayer, 
ha\ing heard this, came into the room, where this woman was 
speaking, without any reserve, before many who were there. As 
soon as she saw him, she fell on the ground, trembling. He 
reproached the demon with his cruelt}^ in thus torturing one of 
God's creatures, and ordered him to leave her, which he did 
instantly, but with so much noise as manifested his v>'rath. In 
the same town he cured a child v/ho had an ulcer, by making the 
sign of the cross on the dressing which covered it When the 
parents of the child took off the dressing, they saw with surprise, 
in lieu of the ulcer, a fleshy excrescence, like a red rose, which 
remained during the whole of the child's life, as a sensible proof 
and memorial of the miracle which had been performed on her. 

After an abode of a month at Casteilo, the man of God set out 
on his return to Saint Maiy of the Angels. Brother Leo, who 
accompanied him, assures us, that during the whole way, and 
until his arrival in the convent, he saw a beautiful golden cross, 
shining with various colors, preceding him, which stopped where 
he stopped, and advanced as he went on. This pious companion 
understood from this, that God had chosen to give to His servant 
the consolation of seeing with the eyes of his body that cross 
which he had always in his heart, and which he likewise bore in 
his flesh by the wounds of Jesus Christ 

Nothing is more affecting than what St. Bonaventure says of 
the feelings of St Francis after ha\ing received the impression of 
these sacred wounds. These are the words of the holy doctor : — 

** Francis, being crucified with Jesus Christ in mind and body, 
not only burned with the ardent love of a seraph, but he likewise 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 3I5 

participated in the thirst * for the salvation of souls which the Son 
of God felt on the Cross, f As he could not go, as he usually 
had done, into the towns and villages, on account of the large 
nails he had on his feet, he had himself carried thither, to animate 
every one, although he was in a deplorable state of languor and 
half dead with his infirmities, to carry the cross of our Saviour. 
He used to say to his brethren : ' Let us now begin to serve 
the Lord our God, for up to this time we have made but little 
progress. ' 

' ' He was also ardently desirous of returning to his first practices 
of humility, — to attend the lepers, and to bring his body into 
subjection, as he had done in the first days of his conversion. 
Although his limbs were enfeebled by his exertions and sufferings, 
that did not prevent his hoping that, as his mind was yet vigorous 
and active, he should still combat and be victorious over his 
enemy. Under the guidance of Jesus Christ, he proposed to 
perform some extraordinary things ; for when love is the spur, 
which admits of no neglect nor slackness, it urges to the under- 
taking of things of greater importance. His body was in such 
unison with his mind, so submissive, so wholly obedient, that, far 
from resisting, it was forward in some measure, and went as it 
were of itself towards the attainment of the great elevation of 
sanctity to which he aspired.'' 

It being God's will that he should acquire the summit of merit, 
which is only attained by great patience, He tried him by many 
sorts of maladies, so grievous, that there was scarcely any part of 
his body in which he did not suffer excruciating pains. These 
reduced him to such a state, that he was scarcely more than skin 
and bone, almost all his flesh was wasted away ; but these suffer- 
mgs he did not consider as such, he denominated them his sisters, 
to show how much he cherished them. 

These words of Saint Francis to his brethren, ''Let us begin 
to sei-ve the Lord our God, for until now we have made little pro- 

"* The thirst of Jesus Christ on the cross was a true and natural thirst, 
caused, as St. Cyril observes, by extreme exhaustion; and He expressed it 
to show that He was really man, and that He suffered real pains. It was 
also to expose Himself to an additional suffering for the plenitude of our 
redemption, according to what had been foretold by David: ** In my thirst 
they nave me vme^ar to drink." Init St. Bonaventura sees likewise in it a 
mystical sense, the burning thirst which Jesus Christ had for the salvation of 
men, according to the saying of St. Gregory Nazianzen, that the thirst of 
God IS that we should thirst for Him, *'Deus sitiens sitiri ; " and St. Am^nis- 
tine, tliat Jesus Christ, asking the Samaritan woman for water to tlrmk, 
thirsted for the faith which it was His wish she should have. •* lUe autem 
qui qtia^rebat bibere, fulem ipsius mulieris sitiebat."— Ps. Ixviii. 26. St. 
Cyril Alex. lib. xii. in J. 'an. cap xix. v. 28 ct 29. St. Gregory Niiziiin. 
letrast. n. 87. St. Augustine, Tract. 15 in Joan. 

t John xix. 28. 



310 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

gress,'*' contain one of the most important lessons of the spiritu;il 
life. The Wise Man says of the knowledge of the works of God : 
''When a man hath done, then he shall begin." * St. Augustine,*!* 
applies this sentence to the obscurity of the sacred writings, w^hen 
he says that, the deeper they are searched, the more hidden 
mysteries are found in them ; and it is equally applicable to 
Christian and religious perfection. It is an error condemned by 
the Church | to believe that a man is capable of attaining in this 
life such a degree of perfection, as not to be able to increase it ; 
but it would be a deplorable illusion to make use of the language 
condemned by Samt Bernard : § "I have done enough, I will 
remain as I am : neither become worse, nor better." The just 
man never says, '' I: is enough ; '"' he has always hunger and thirst 
after justice; as the apostles, ''He forgets the things that are 
behind, and stretches himself to those that are before, to press 
towards the mark. '' || To believe that we have made progress is 
not to do so ; not to strive to advance is to go back, and to lose 
one's self What instruction is here for the most perfect, in the 
example of a saint who deems himself to have made little pro- 
gress in the service of God, and w^ho wishes to begin all afresh, at 
a time w^hen he is found deserving to bear on his body the wounds 
of Jesus Christ ! 

His disorders were only afflicting to Francis inasmuch as 
related to the vast projects he unceasingly formed for the good of 
souls. He was most grieved at the state of his eyes, which made 
his sight begin to fail. Notwithstanding his other infirmities, 
w^henever he could, he mounted on an ass, and went about, 
preaching penance, announcing the kingdom of God, and address- 
ing these words to all his hearers : "Jesus Christ, my Love, was 
crucified.'"' He spoke with so much fervor, and with such assi- 
duity, visiting sometimes five or six towns ^ in the course of a 
single day, that it might be said that God gave him, as to the 
prophet, the agility of a deer. *'^ However, although in the person 
of St. Francis the interior man was renewed from day to day, yet 
it necessarily fell out that the exterior man, borne down by so 
much austerity and fatigue, began rapidly to decay. The acute 
pains in his eyes, and the tears he constantly shed, brought on 
blindness, and it became impossible for him to preach any longer, 
however desirous he was to do so. ^Moreover, he would not have 
recourse to remedies, although his brethren urged him to avail 

* Ecclus. xviii, 6. + St. Aug. Epis. ad Valiis. 137. 

t Clem. cap. Ad nost. De Haeres. § St. Bernard, Epist. 244. 

II Phil. iii. 13 et 14. 

IF They are very near to each other in the vale of Spoleto, whither he 
usually went. 

*** Ps. xvii. 36; 2 Cor. iv. 16. 



S, FRANCIS OF ASSISI, 317 

himself of them, because, being already in heaven in mind and 
heart, he wished, as the apostle had done, "to have his conver- 
sation in heaven."'^ 

Brother Elias, vicar-general, who felt the loss which the death 
of. its holy founder would be to the Order, was most anxious to 
procure him relief. His feelings also induced him to wish it ; 
for, with all his faults, he was tenderly attached to his father, and 
was as a mother to him by the care he took of him : of this all the 
first writers of the life of Saint Francis bear testimony. He used 
entreaties and argum^ent to induce him to have recourse to 
me<:licine for his disorders, and quoted the following Scriptural 
texts: "The Most High hath created medicines out of the earth, 
and a wise man will not abhor them/'j" He also on this occasion 
made use of the power he had received from the Saint : he com- 
manded him, on his obedience, not to resist his cure. Cardinal 
Ugolino, protector of the Order, urged him also to the same effect, 
and warned him to be careful, lest there should be sin instead of 
merit in neglecting to take proper care of himself 

The sick man yielded to the advice of his friends. He was 
removed to a small and poor cell, very near the convent of Saint 
Damian, that he might be nearer to Clare and her sisterhood, who 
loved him as their father, and who prepared the medicines for 
him. He remained there forty days with the Brothers Masse, 
Ruffin, Leo, and Angelo of Rieti ; but the disorder of his eyes 
became so painful, that he could get no rest night or day ; when 
he endeavored to procure a little sleep, he was prevented by a 
number of i*ats, which infested the hut, and ran over his table 
and bed so daringly, that it was thought to be a stratagem of the 
evil one. 

Seeing himself overwhelmed by an accumulation of disorders, 
he made the following prayer humbly to God : "My Lord and 
God, cast Tnine eyes upon me, and lend mc Thine aid ; grant 
me grace to bear with patience all these ills and infirmities." A 
voice forthwith made him this answer: "Francis, what price 
should be set upon that which shall obtain a kingdom which is 
above all price ? Know that the pains you suffer are of greater 
value than all the riches of the world, and that you ought not to 
be rid of them for all that is in the world, even though all the 
mountains should be changed into pure gold, all its stones into 
jewels, and all the waters of the sea into balsam.'' ;j; "Yes, Lord," 
exclaimed Francis, "it is thus that 1 prize the sufferings Thou 



* Phil. iii. 20, ct i. 23. t EccL xxxviii. 4. 

t Balsaju is a very precious plant. Joscphus says that the Queen of Salia 
presented some plants to Solomon, and that from that time balsam became 
common in Judeu, wliere it is now very scarce ; it was the most esteemed of 
any in the world. — I()s<'[)lius, AnLi(j. lib. viii. cap. 2. 



3l8 S. FK-^XCIS OF ASSISL 

sendest me ; for I know that it is Thy will that they should be in 
this world the chastisements of my sins, in order to show me mercy 
in etemit}." 'Rejoice, then," added the voice, *'it is through 
the way in which you are, that heaven is reached. " At these words 
he rose up full of fen or ; and wishing that Clare, who was almost 
always ill, should benefit by what he had just heard, he sent for 
her, and conversed with her until the dinner-hour of the tender 
goodness of God to man, e\'en in the dispositions of His Provi- 
dence, which have the appearance of being the most severe. 

]\Ien who are enlightened by the light of &ith, — must they not 
be con\'inced of these Christian truths : that the most perfect have 
some sins to expiate ; that the saints can only attain to heaven by 
suffering ; that the kingdom of heaven, which is invaluable, can- 
not be purchased at too great a price ; and that God never mani- 
fests His paternal regard in our favor more evidently than when 
He afflicts us in this world in order to show us His mercy in the 
next? WTiat finit might hot be gathered fi-om sicknesses and 
other sufferings ; what alle\dations, what consolations, and even 
what joy, might not be found, if these holy truths were but reduced 
to practice, which unfortunately are only viewed theoretically, and 
with little or no application ! 

Francis being at dinner, and beginning to eat, stopped sudden. 
and, with his eyes raised to heaven, exclaimed in a loud voice : 
'*May God be ble^ed, glorified, and exalted above all ! " Then 
leaving the room in an unusual manner, he threw himself on the 
ground, where he remained motionless in ecstasy during a whole 
hour. 

When he came to himself^ one of the brethren whose name 
was Leonard, who had witne^ed what had passed, and had heard 
what he had exclaimed, spoke to him of it, as if what he had 
done had been veiy unbecoming. *'My dear brother," said 
Francis, ^'I had great cause for what I did, which I will com- 
municate to you confidentially, upon condition that you will tell 
no one of it during my lifetime. If a king promised to give a 
kingdom to one of his subjects, would not that person have great 
reason to rejoice.^ W^at, then, did I do that was unseemly, — I 
whom the Almighty assured of His kingdom.? I was so over- 
power^ with joy, diat I could not control the motions of my 
heart ; you must excuse the excess in the expressions of my satis- 
fection, whatever it may have been, and however it may have 
seemed to transgress the rules of decorum. But what I did is not 
enough, I will praise God still more ; I will unceasingly praise 
His "holy name. 1 will sing hymns to His glory during the 
remainder of my days. "^ 

• Eccl. li. 15 ; Ps. Ixiii. 35. and diL 34 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 319 

After which he sat down, and after having reflected a little, he 
got one of his companions to write an Italian canticle, which 
begins thus : ' ' Altissimo, Omnipotente, bon Signore ; tue son le 
laude, la gloria, Tonore, ed ogni benedizione,'' etc. ''O God, 
most high, most powerful, most good ! to Thee belong praise, 
honor, glory, and every blessing : these are solely to be referred 
to Thee ; neither is any man worthy to pronounce Thy holy name. 
Praise be to Thee, O Lord, my God ! by all thy creatures.'"' He 
speaks of the sun as the most brilliant of all, of the moon, the 
stars, the air, the wind, the clouds, the seasons, the water, the fire, 
the earth and all that it contains ; giving praise to God for each 
of His creatures, whose beauties and properties He recites. 

This canticle resembles that which was sung at Babylon,* in 
the fiery furnace, by the three young men who were thrown into 
it, for not having adored the statue of Nebuchodonosor. They 
called upon all creatures, inanimate and irrational, to praise God, 
as David had done before ; f and St. Francis calls upon all to 
praise Him, because of His creatures. It comes to the same thing ; 
for inanimate creatures, as St. Jerome observes, only praise God 
by making Him known to men, and by placing before them His 
magnificence. When they are considered as His work, says SL 
Augustine, we find in them numberless reasons for singing hymns 
to His gloiy; and if His greatness is manifested in His glorious 
works, He is not less great in those which are less so. Whatsoever 
God has made, praises God; there is only sin, of which He is not 
the author, which does not praise Him. It was Francis's desire 
that all his brethren should learn his canticle, and recite it daily, 
and that Brother Pacificus, the famous poet, of whom we have 
before spoken, and who was then in Fi:ance or in the Low 
Countries, should put it into well-sounding verse. He called it 
the Canticle of the Sun, because of the preeminence of that 
beautiful planet, in which, David says, God seemed to have taken 
up His abode, in order to show himself to us.* 

Some days after lie had composed this, great strife arose 
Ixitween the Bishop of Assisi and the magistrates of that place. 
The prelate placed them under an interdict, and they, in their 
manner, took a similar course with him, forbidding anyone to 
have intercourse with him, to sell anything to him, or to his- 
people, and to purchase nothing from them. The holy man, 
tlecply grievcxJ at this disscilsion, and to see that no one interfered 
to bring about a reconciliation, added the following words to his 
canticle: "Laudato sia mio Signore, per quelli que perdonano 

* Dan. iii. 37, et seq. 

t Ps cxlviii. 8. llicr. in cap. iii. Dan. iii. S. Aul^. in Ps. Ixviii. n. 5, 
cont. Kanst. lib. x\i. ci\\\ 5, ct in Kpi^i. Trart. iii. n. i). 

* Ts. xiii. V 



^20 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

per lo tuo amore," etc. : "Be Thou praised, O Lord ! for those 
who, for Thy love, pardon offences, and bear patiently tribulation 
and sickness. Blessed are they that endure all that occurs in 
peace, because Thou_who art the Most High, wilt crown them." 
He then said to his companions: ''Go confidently from me 
to the magistrates, and tell them that I beg them to go to the 
bishop. When they come into his presence, be not bashful, 
but sing alternately this canticle, with the last couplet, as 
being God's choristers.'' His companions complied strictly with 
ail he had ordered. The bishop and the magistrates, out of 
respect for the interference of the saint, consented to see each 
other ; and they had no sooner heard his canticle sung, than, the 
grace of God moving their hearts by the artlessness of the 
words, they embraced each other, and made each other mutual 
apologies. 

As his malady did not show s}'mptoms of amelioration, Elias 
had him removed from the convent of St Marv^ of the Angels to 
Foligno, in hopes that change of air might be of ser\'ice to him. 
And he was in fact somewhat relieved by it : but God made 
known, by an extraordinar}' revelation, that he would continue to 
suffer until death. Elias found himself overpowered with sleep, 
and in his slumber he saw a venerable old man, clothed in white, 
with pontifical ornaments, who told him that Francis must 
prepare himself to suffer patiently for tvro years more, after which, 
death would deliver him, and would cause him to pass into per- 
fect repose, free from all pain. He communicated this to 
Francis, who said that the same thing had been communicated 
to him ; and then, filled with joy, not only on account of the 
eternal felicitv' again promised him, but because the time vras 
fixed when his soul was to be released from the prison of his body, 
he added this further couplet to his canticle: *'Be Thou 
praised, my Lord, for death our sister, from which no living man 
can escape,'' etc. ''Blessed are they who, at the hour of death, 
are found conformed to Thy holy will, for they will not be over- 
taken by the second death.* Woe to those who die in mortal 
sin I May all creatures praise and bless God, obey Him and sen-e 
Him with great humility !'' If we are surprised to find St. 
Francis call death our sister, we must bear in mind that the holy 



* That which St. John calls in the zVpocalypse *' the second death." is 
eternal damnation ; and the first death is not the death of the body, but that 
of the soul bv sin, which strips it of the giace of God, its true life. The 
death of the body is only death, properly speaking, when it occurs in a state 
of mortal sin because it places the criminal soul under the empire of the 
second death, which is damnation. When it occurs and the soul is in n 
state of grace, it is called, in Christian phraseology, a pleasing sleep, a hapi , 
passage. — Apoc. ii. II. and xx. 6. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 32 1 

man, Job, said to rottenness : ' ' Thou art my father ; and to the 
worms, you are my mother and sister. ""^ 

His sufferings being somewhat reheved, he was taken back to 
St. Mary of the Angels, where he wished to have a spiritual con- 
ference with Brother Bernard, of Quintavalle, the first of his 
children ; but he was then in the adjoining wood, whither, accord- 
ing to his custom, he had retired for contemplation. He got 
himself taken there, and called his disciple three times by these 
affecting words: '' Brother Bernard, come and talk to this poor 
blind man." Bernard, who was wholly absorbed in God, not 
making any answer, he was somewhat excited and grieved, and 
before returning, he made the religious, who had accompanied 
him, retire, to endeavor to discover by means of prayer what 
could have induced Bernard to have neglected him in this manner. 
A voice from heaven addressed these words to him : ' ' Little man, 
why art thou so disturbed ? Must the Creator be given up for the 
creature ? Brother Bernard was conversing with me when you 
called him ; I retained him, not for his consolation only, but in 
order to teach you that God does not always leave spiritual men 
masters of themselves, and able to obey other men ; that there 
are many things which ought not to be condemned in them, and 
that their actions are not to be judged of by ordinary rules.'' 

Francis, trembling, recalled his guide, and holding him by the 
nand, he went to several parts of the wood to seek for Brother 
Bernard, and when he had found him, he prostrated himself 
at his feet with great humility, and asked pardon for the fault he 
had committed ; and laying himself on his back, ''I order you,'' 
he said, '*to trample on me three times, and to place your foot 
on my mouth." Bernard, with tears in his eyes, resisted as much 
as he could ; but not daring to disobey such a master, he felt 
compelled to do as he was ordered. The saints see things in a 
very different light from what we do, and consider with quite 
other feehngs the errors they fall into. Wiio would have thought 
that so trilling an inadvertence was to be expiated by so humili- 
ating and so severe a punishment .^^ 

Respecting what was said to St. Francis, that God does not 
always leave spiritual men masters of themselves, and capable of 
beying others, etc., there are some observations to be made, 
that it may not be misinterpreted. What was said to him was in 
allusion to a supernatural state when in prayer, wherein God 
suspends all the powers of the soul, in such a manner that it can 
neither sec, nor hear, nor act, and of certain s;.)iritual actions out 
of the line of ordinary rules, which God sometimes requires of His 
servants, as is seen in the prophets, and in a great number of 

* JoIj, xvil. k;. 







322 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



saints who have been canonized by the Church. It would be 
rash to expect that a person under such circumstances should do 
all that others w^ould have him do, and to censure his conduct as 
being out of the ordinary course. This is the sense of what was 
said to Francis respecting the ecstasy of Bernard, and he knew it 
by experience, ha.ving been often in a state of ecstasy. 

But it must not be concluded that any operation of God on a 
soul ever dispenses it from obeying legitimate authority, since it is 
His will, as St. Paul says, '' that every one shall be submissive to 
the powers that be,'' * and He cannot contradict Himself. One of 
the rules w^hich theologians f lay down for distinguishing true 
ecstasies and revelations from false ones, is to examine whether 
the persons to w4iom such things occur are regular in their duties, 
very humble and very obedient. St. Theresa, who w^as very dis- 
cerning in these matters, J said to her daughters that, if they 
attempted to unite themselves to God by any other means than 
by obedience, they would only unite themselves to their own 
self-love. By that, this excellent saint clearly proved the truth of 
the extraordinary favors she received from Jesus Christ in prayer, 
for she obeyed her confessors implicitly, so far as to act directly 
contrary to the particular inspirations wdiich our Lord imparted to 
her, on W' hich he said to her : ' ' You do right in obeying, and I 
will make know^n the truth.'' 

If St, Francis had found Brother Bernard in an ecstasy, and as 
his superior he had commanded him to come to him, Ber- 
nard W'Ould have come : God w'ould have permitted it ; but as he 
did not call him in that capacity, but as a friend, God kept him 
back, and did not restore him to his senses. In the year 1237, § 
a follower of St. Francis, the blessed Brother Giles, of whom w^e 
have spoken, was one day motionless in an ecstasy, without any 
sensation, in the presence of, and in the palace of Gregory IX, at 
Viterbo ; and the Holy Father being desirous of testing the effect 
of obedience on this ecstatical man, said to Brother Giles : ''I 
order you, in virtue of obedience, to resume your usual appear- 
ance." At the very moment Giles came to himself, and threw 
himself at the Pope's feet. 

Two things result from what has just been said : ist. That 
souls whom it pleases God to honor with peculiar communications 
have only to answer to their immediate superiors, who are in His 

* Rom. xiii, I. 

tSce Card, a Turrecremata Prol. in Revel. S. Brigitt. cap. ii. Gers. de 
Dist. ver. Revel, k fals. torn. i. fol. 585. 

t See S. Theresa on the foundation of the monastery of the Carmelites of 
Medina du Champ, ch. v. In her Life, written by herself, chap. xxix. and 
xxxiii. and in several parts of her works. 

$ Wading ad ann. 1237. n. 7. Act. 88, 23 April. Vit. B. JE^d. cap. iii. 
n. 13, et in an not. Lit. H. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 323 

place, and that no others are to interfere with them, or to judge 
their actions, or to endeavor to make them swerve from their 
purpose. 2dly. That such souls as are devoted to prayer, are to 
be greatly respected when God favors them with His super- 
natural gifts ; but that their humihty, their fidelity, and their 
obedience are to be much more esteemed thtm their ecstasies, 
and that it is in those virtues that they are to be imitated. 

The whole of the year 1225, Francis passed in various illnesses 
and in great sufferings. Towards autumn. Cardinal Ugolino and 
Brother Elias induced him to be removed to Rieti, where there were 
able physicians and surgeons who could attend to the state of 
his eyes. As soon as it was known in the town, all the inhabi- 
tants miCt, and went to meet him ; but^ in order to avoid all the 
honors preparing for him, he had himself taken to St. Fabian, a 
village two miles from Rieti, where he lodged at the cure's. 

The Pope was at Rieti, with all his court, at that time : many 
of the principal persons of the court, and even cardinals, came 
to St. Fabian to visit the holy man. While they were in conver- 
sation with him, the persons of their suite v/ent into the cure's 
vineyard to eat grapes, and they gathered so many that the vine- 
yard was nearly stripped. The cure was much displeased at this, 
and complained to St. Francis, who asked him, how much he 
thought he had lost ? "1 usually," replied the cure, ''have made 
fourteen measures of wine, which were sufficient for the consump- 
tion of my house." ''I am sorry," said Francis, ''that they 
should have done you so much damage, but we must hope that 
God will find a remedy for it, and I firmly believe He will, and 
that, from the grapes which remain in your vineyard. Fie will give 
you fourteen measures of wine and more." The cure saw this 
prophecy fulfilled, for he made twenty measures from the few- 
grapes which had been left. The magistrates of Rieti caused, at 
a subsequent period, a convent to be built for the Friars INIinors 
on this spot ; and the same Pope, Gregory IX, out of respect for 
the saint, chose to consecrate the church himself, in which are 
still seen representations of the miracle. 

After some days Francis could no longer avoid going to Rieti, 
where the persons of the court received him with honors, which 
he gladly would have dispensed with ; and* he lodged there with 
a pious citizen, named Theobald, a Saracen, who had settled in 
the town. 

The dejection of spirits which his sufferings had brought upon 
him, made him desirous of having some instrumental music to 
cheer him ; but, says St. Bonavcntuhi, decorum did not allow 
him to ask for it, and it was God's pleasure that he should receive 
this agreeable consolation by means of an angel. One night, 
when 1)C \v;is at j)riU'cr. he heard some «.>ne walk round his bed 



:;24 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

playing on the guitar, without his being able to see any one. The 
sound, which was marvellously harmonious, raised his mind so 
entirely to God, and filled his soul with so much delight, that he 
thought himself in the enjoyment of the joys of the other world. 
His intimate companions perceived it, and they frequently 
observed that God gave him extraordinary consolations, for the 
effects they produced on him were so manifest, that it was 
impossible for him to disguise them, and then he admitted to 
them from whence they arose. 

This shows that, if' the saintly sufferer wished to hear some 
instrumental music, it was in order to listen to it for the glory of 
God, as St Augustine observes was the case with David,* and not 
for any purely human gratification, nor to take any ordinary 
pleasure therein, nor even for the assuagement of his violent 
sufferings. 

It is true that harmonious sound will procure this relief; and 
without referring to what ancient v/riters say f on this head, with- 
out noticing Saul, we know that there are feelings of the body and 
mind, in which we experience what the wise man supposes to 
be a common occurrence, * ^ that music rejoices the heart : '' J man 
being born with a taste for proportion, and finding himself full 
of concert and harmony, it is no way surprising that the har- 
mony and proportion of sounds should cause strong and vivid 
impressions on him. 

St. Francis, who may have been naturally more affected by 
music than others, may also have reasonably wished for its solace, 
more from a desire to prevent the depression of his spirits from 
the violence of his sufferings, than from being deprived of the 
consolation by a principle of mortification. But he was too 
spiritual a man not to have us convinced that his wish proceeded 
from a purer and more noble motive. He desired to prevent 
his mind from being too greatly depressed, in order to render 
himself more equal to interior operations, and to unite him- 
self more easily and more intimately to God. As the prophet 
Eliseus, § who, having been greatly excited against the king of 
Israel, caused a Canticle of the temple to be sung to him, with 
a harp accompaniment, in order to calm his irritated mind, and 
to prepare him for the lights of the Lord, as to the knowledge 
of future events. St. Augustine also observes, || that, after his 



* S. Aug. de Civit. Dei, lib. xvii. cap. 14. 

t Athense. lib. xiv. cap. s. Plutarch, lib. de Musica, n. 12 et 20. Plin. 
Hist. lib. xxviii. cap. 2. St. Clem. Alex. lib. ii. Pasdagog. cap. iv. et Strom, 
lib. vi. cap. 7. St. Basil. De leg. lib. Gentil. n. 7. 

t I Reg. xvi., xvii. et xxiii. Eccli. xi. 20. 

^ 4 Keg. iii. 15. St. Greg, in Ezech. lib. i. Horn. i. n. 15. 

II St. Aug. Confess, lib. ix. cnp. 6. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 325 

baptism, the chant of the hymns and psalms sung in the church 
excited in his heart tender sentiments of piety, and drew from his 
eyes floods of tears. 

The marvellous effect which the celestial music which God 
caused him to have, produced in his mind, shows that, on this 
subject, he entertained similar sentiments to those of the holy 
doctor,* that it is a science given to man by the liberality of the 
Creator, to represent to them the admirable harmony by which He 
governs the world, in order to guide them by the channel of the 
senses, and the melody of sounds, to the knowledge and love of 
immutable truth. This is also the true use of music, and it is 
only with this view that the Church permits it in the divine service. 
That which is soft and effeminate, which is calculated to excite the 
passions, the channel of ambiguous expressions, not the less dan- 
gerous for being so cloaked, should be considered by Christians 
as an abuse the more deplorable, as it has even been censured and 
condemned by the pagans, f 

All the skill of the physicians and surgeons of Rieti not having 
had any effect towards the cure of their patient, he had himself 
taken to his convent of Fonte Colombo, where they were to con- 
tinue their remedies ; and it was their opinion that a hot iron 
should be applied above his ear, from which it was expected he 
would obtain relief For this reason his brethren urged him to 
give his consent, which he willingly did, in hopes to recover his 
sight thereby, and then to continue his exertions for the salvation 
of souls ; and also because, the operation being very painful, he 
would have an opportunity of voluntary suffering. 

When they were about to apply the red-hot iron, he could not 
avoid feeling a natural sense of fear ; in order to overcome it, he 
addressed the fire as we should speak to a friend : '' My brother,'' 
said he, ''the Most High has given you great beauty, and has 

* Id. de Orig. Anim. Epist. 166 alias 28, n. 13. De Musica, lib. vi. n, i. 
De Civit. Dei, supra. 

t Horace says tliat the Romans, havinc^ gained great victories, gave them- 
selves up with impunity to spending their festival days in drinking and diverting 
themselves; that licentiousness then seized upon verse and music, and that 
the flute-player added the lasciviousness of his gestures to the tones of his 
art, which were previously chaste and solemn. 

Postquam coepit agros extendere victor, et ui bem 

Latior amplecti murus, vinoque diurno 

Placari Genius, festis impune diebus, 

Accessit numerisque modisque licentia major.... 

Sic priscne motumque et luxuriam addidit arti 

Tibicen. — /;,• Arf.^ Pod. 

Socrates, Plato, Cicero, Pliny, in their days, coiUrasic 1 \.\\i.- simplicity, 
gravity, and solemnity of the ancient music with the liccn>o and hisciviou's- 
ne^s of the ncsv. 



326 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

made you most useful ; be favorable to me on this occasion. I 
entreat the great God who created you, to temper your heat, so 
that I may be able to bear it" He then made the sign of the 
cross on the instrument, and without any fear presented himself 
to receive the impression. His companions, not having courage 
to witness the operation, left the room. The physician and 
surgeon remained alone with him, and the hot iron was pressed 
from over his ear to his eyebrow, into his flesh, which was ver}* 
tender. 

After the operation, the brothers having returned, he said to 
them : ''Praise the Lord, for I assure you I neither felt the heat 
of the fire, nor any pain.'' Then he reproached them mildly in 
these words: ''Why did you fly. you pusillanimous men, and 
of little faith ? He who preserved the three young men in the 
furnace of Babylon,* could He not temper in my favor the heat 
of my brother, the fire ?" We shall see further what an exalted 
principle it was which induced him to qualify all creatures by the 
names of his brothers and sisters. He said to the physician : " If 
the flesh is not sufiiciently burnt, replace the hot iron.'"' The 
physician, struck with so much fortitude in so feeble a body, saw 
that it was miraculous, and said to the religious: "I see truly 
to-day a most wonderful occuirence.'" 

St. Bonaventura, who relates this, makes the following obser- 
vation : That Francis having attained so high a degree of 
perfection, his body w^as subject to his mind, and his mind to 
God : with admirable harmony it foUovved from thence, by a 
peculiar disposition of Divine Providence, that inanimate creatures 
which obey God, obeyed His ser\'ant also, and forebore from 
hurting him, according to this : " O Lord ! f the creature being 
subject to Thee, as to its Creator, renovates its strength to torment 
the wicked, and softens it to contribute to the good of those 
who trust in Thee. '' 

It is, moreover, remarkable that St Francis feared when he 
saw the red-hot iron, — he who had consented to have the remedy 
applied, because it was severe, and who had offered, when in 
Egypt, to cast himself into the fire to prove the truth of the Chris- 
tian religion. It is thus that God permits His saints to become 



» 



* Dan. iii. 50. 

t In the Bo jk of Wisdom, the manna is spoken of. which melted when it 
was exposed to the sun, but that fire, instead of melting it, baked it, and 
rendered it fit for being eaten by the Hebrews, which was wonderful; for the 
manna was a sort of dew, similar to the small particles of ice w^hich are seen 
on the grass in hoar-frosts ; and the fire sent from heaven against the 
Egyptians with an extraordinary quantity of rain, instead of being extin- 
guished by the vast proportion of water, was only more violent, and burnt 
everything, — Exod. cap. xvi. 14; cap. ix. 23, et seq. I's. civ. 31. Sap. xvi. 
17 ct 19. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 327 

sensible of their natural weakness in trifling things,"^ in order 
that they may be sensible that in greater things all their strength 
depends upon His grace. 

In sickness and in health Francis unceasingly shed abundance 
of tears : it was an effect of the gift he had received, and of his 
tender devotion ; but he told his brethren that he wept for the 
expiation of his sins, although he had attained to an extraordinary 
purity of mind and body. He laid it down to them as a maxim, 
that those who strive to attain perfection, ought daily to purify 
themselves by tears of repentance. The reason he gave for this 
was, that man, being clothed with frail flesh, could not so perfectly 
imitate the Lamb without spot, v/ho w^as crucified, as not to 
commit some faults occasionally. St. Augustine f was of a sim- 
ilar way of thinking, and maintained that either the laity or the 
clergy, of the most exemplary lives, must be careful not to leave 
this world without having made a true penance proportioned to 
their respective wants. He himself, when on the bed of death, 
recited the Penitential Psalms with great compunction, shedding 
at the same time abundance of tears. 

The disorder m the eyes of St. Francis was caused by the tears 
he continually shed. His physician told him he ought to restrain 
them, unless he wished to lose his entire sight ; and this is the 
reply he gave him : '"^My dear Brother Doctor, for the love of 
corporal sight, which we enjoy in common with flies, we must 
not set aside for a single instant the Divine illustrations ; for the 
mind has not received the favor on account of the body, it has 
been granted to the body on account of the mind." He liked 
better, says St. Bonaventura, to lose corporal sight than to check 
for a single moment that tender and affectionate devotion which 
calls forth tears, by which the interior sight is purified and 
rendered competent to see an infinitely pure God. 

What he said to his physician on the fear of losing his sight, 
is in accordance with the views of St. Anthony the patriarch, | 
of cenobitical life, which he communicated to the celebrated 
Didymus, on the grief of having lost it. Conversing one day with 
this learned man, who was blmd, and sensible of the pain this 
loss caused him, ''I am surprised," he said, "that, being so wise 

* The illustrious martyr, vSaint Felicitas, the companion of St. Perpetua, 
being in labor in the prison into whicli she had been thrown for the faith of 
Jesus Christ, and screaming from the violence of the pain she suffered, one 
of the guards asked her what she would do when she shouhl be exposed to 
the wild beasts in the amphitheatre, and she made this beautiful re;^ly: '*It 
is I who suffer at the present moment; but there will be another who will 
suffer in me and for me, because I shall there suffer for Him."— S. Augustine, 
serm. 281, cap. ;^, Act. Sine. Mart., i^age 93, n. 15. 

t Possid. Vit. vS. August, cap. xxxi. ' 

I Vil. S. Ant. n. 68 et Tu), torn. i. Opvv. S. A than 



328 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

and learned as you are, you should be grieved at being deprived 
of what ants and flies have, and that you do not on the contrary 
rejoice in possessing what the saints and apostles have alone 
desired to have." * Such is the way in which the saints estimated 
the good and evil of the things of the world, and, as all Christians 
ought to estimate them, by the light of faith. 

In order to show some gratitude to the physician for the trouble 
he took in his regard, Francis one day desired the brethren, in 
his presence, to take him to dine with them. They represented to^ 
him that their poverty was such that they had nothing which was' 
fit to place before a person of his consideration, for this physician 
was in great estimation, and very rich. "Men of little faith,'' 
replied the saint, ''why have you these doubts.^ Why have you 
not considered more favorably the merit of obedience } Go and 
take to the refectory our honorable brother, the doctor." They 
took him, seeing that he would consent to partake of their poor 
fare out of devotion, but, just as they wxre sitting down to table, 
there was a ring at the bell : it was a woman, \vho brought, in 
a basket, several dishes exceedingly well dressed, which a lady, 
who lived at a country house, six miles off, sent to the servant of 
God. He desired that these might be offered to the physician, 
and that he might be told that the Lord took care of His 
own. The doctor admired the hand of Providence, and said to 
the religious : ' ' Isly brethren, we do not sufficiently understand 
the holiness of this man ; and even you who live with him, 
have no conception of the secret virtue with which his mind is 
replenished." 

This physician was not less charitable than learned ; he had 
great pleasure in prescribing for this sick man, he frequently visited 
him, and paid the expense of the medicines he required. God, 
who considered as done to Himself what was done to His servant, 
who could not repay him, rewarded him in this world by a miracle 
worked in his favor. 

He had laid out all his ready money in building a house w^hich 
was only just finished, when one of the principal w^alls was found 
to have a large crack in it from the top to the bottom, which no 
human art could make good. Full of faith and confidence in the 
merits of Francis, he begged his companions to give him something 
which the holy man had touched. After many entreaties they gave 
him some of his hair, which he placed at night in the fissure in the 
wall. He came back in the morning, and found the whole so 
completely closed, that not only he could not get back the hair, 
but it was no longer perceivable that there had been any rent in 
the wall. The good offices which he had manifested to a worn-out 

* S. Hier. Epist. loo. alias 33, ad Castruc. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 329 

body prevented, says St. Bonaventura, the ruin of the house he 
had just built. 

Some days after, Francis was taken to Rieti, where the bishop 
lodged him in his palace ; they brought to the foot of his bed, 
upon a tressel, one of the canons, who was dangerously ill ; he 
had been a very worldly man, who had Hved a dissipated life, but 
who, struck with the fear of approaching death, entreated the saint 
to make the sign of the cross upon him. ''How,'' said Francis, 
•'shall I make the sign of the cross on you, who, without any fear 
of the judgments of God, have given yourself up to the lusts of 
the flesh ? I will do it, however, because of the pious persons 
who have interceded in your favor. But, bear in mind that you 
will suffer much greater ills, if, after your cure, you should return 
to the vomit ; for the sin of ingratitude makes the last state of the 
man worse than the former."* He then made the sign of the cross 
upon the sick man, who immediately arose, praised God, and 
exclaimed, "I am healed." All the bystanders heard his bones 
crack, as when dry sticks are broken. That unhappy man, how^- 
ever, did not remain long without plunging again into vice ; and 
one night, as he was in bed at the house of a canon where he had 
supped, the roof of the house fell in and crushed him, without 
hurting any one else. 

"It was," says the same holy doctor, " by a just judgment of 
God ; for the sin of ingratitude is a contempt of the graces of God, 
for which w^e ought to be most thankful ; and the sins into which 
we again fall after repentance, displease Him more than any 
others. Will it never be understood that, in the diseases of the 
soul, as in those of the body, there is nothing so dangerous as a 
relapse ?" 

l^he pains felt by Francis were in some degree assuaged, his 
sight was restored, and he made use of this interval to have him- 
self taken into several parts of Umbria, of the kingdom of Naples, 
and of the adjacent provinces, in order to work for the salvation 
of souls. At Penna, a young religious who was naturally good, 
and of great promise, came to ask his pardon for having left the 
Order ; which he had only done at the instigation of the evil 
spirit, who persuaded him that, by living privately, he could better 
sanctify himself As soon as the saint saw him, he fled to the 
cell, and shut the door ; when he came out again, his com- 
panions expressed their surprise at what he had done: ''Do 
not be astonished," he said, "at my having fled; I saw on this 
young man a frightful demon, who was endeavoring to throw 
limi down the precipice, and I acknowledge to you that I could 
I it bear his presence. I have prayed as earnestly as I could for 



^Miilt. xii. I.} : |.>hn w. 1 \. 



330 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



the deliverance of tin's poor brother from such a seducer, and God 
has heard rny prayer." Then, having sent for him, and telling 
him what he had seen, he exhorted him to be on his guard against 
the snares of the devil, and not to separate himself again from his 
brethren : ''For, if you do otherwise," he added, ''you will not 
fail to fall into the precipice from which the mercy of God has 
preserved you." The docile and faithful religious passed the 
remainder of his days in great piety, and in the exercises of a 
regular life. 

At Calano, a town of the duchy of Marsi, in the farther Abruzzo, 
where Francis was come to preach, a common soldier pressed him 
so earnestly to come and dine with him, that he could make no 
excuse. He therefore went, with one companion, who was a priest, 
— a circumstance which was ver}^ serviceable. The poor family ot 
the soldier having received them with great joy, the saint began 
to pray, as was his custom, and he had his eyes constantly raised 
to heaven. He then said to the soldier, privately, "My brother 
and my host, you see I have acceded to your request in coming 
to dine with you. Now, follow my advice, and make haste ; foi 
it is not here, but elsewhere, that you will dine. Confess your sins 
with as much exactness and sorrow as you can ; the Lord will 
reward you for having received His poor ones with such good 
religious intentions," The soldier, placing confidence in what the 
servant of God said to him, made his confession to Francis' com- 
panion, regulated his temporal affairs, and prepared himself, as 
well as he could, for death. When that was done, he sat down 
with the others to table, and a minute afterwards he expired sud- 
denly. Then were the words of the Gospel fulfilled, "^ that he who 
should receive a prophet as a prophet, that is to say, not seeing 
in him any other qualification, receives also the reward of the 
prophet ; inasmuch as the prediction of Francis enabled him to 
fortify himself by penance against death, which he did not think 
to be so near at hand ; and that his merits brought him nearer to 
the enjoyment of eternal happiness. 

It was probably in this apostolic tour that the servant of God 
performed a miracle on the person of St. Bonaventura, w^ho, under 
the dispositions of Divine Providence, w^as to become one of the 
most illustrious of his children. He was born at Bagnarea in 
1 uscany, a town belonging to the Ecclesiastical Slates, in the year 
1221, and he was baptized by the name of John. His father, 
John Fidenza, and Ritella, his mother, joined to the nobility of 
their birth a large fund of piety. In his infancy he was seized 
with a mortal illness, of which he was cured by St. Francis, which 
was one of the reasons why he determined to write his Life. " I 



Mau. X. 41. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 33 1 

should fear," he says in his preface to his Legend, '' that I should 
be accused of criminal ingratitude if I neglected to publish the 
praises of him to whom I acknowledge that I owe the life of my 
body and my soul." 

It is reported, with the circumstances which he himself may have 
told, and the memory of which may have been preserved by 
tradition, that his mother, having no further hopes of saving him 
by means of medicaments,* came and presented him to St. 
Francis, who was renowned in Italy, at that time, for the splendor 
of his -sanctity and his miracles; she implored f the aid of his 
prayers, and made a vow that, if the child was saved, she would 
give him to his Order. The holy man consoled the afflicted mother, 
and obtained from God the cure of her son, to the astonishment 
of the physicians, who had deemed his disorder incurable. At 
the sight of this miraculous cure, he said, in the Italian language : 
'' O buona venture ! " J "How fortunate ! " from w^hence came the 
name § of Bonaventura ; and finally, he foretold that the child would 
become a great light in the Church of God, || and that through him 
his Order would receive great increase of sanctity. ^ 

In the year 1243, being then twenty-two years old, he proposed 
to fulfil his mother's vow, and take the habit of a Friar Minor. 
This is not the place to narrate his illustrious actions, but we 
must notice two remarkable circumstances which are connected 
with St. Francis. 

The first is, that, as this blessed patriarch bears the name of 

* Petr. Galasin. in Vit. S. Bonav. cap. iv.. 

t Octavian. de S. Bonav. Orat. «^ 4. t Wading, ad ann. 1 22 1, n. 45. 

$ He added to it the name of John, Frater Joannes Bonaventura; others 
before him had borne the name of Bonaventura, as Wading and ihe con- 
tinuators of Bollandus observe. — Wading, ad ann. 122 1, n. 45. Act. SS. Vit. 
S. Bonav. 14, Jul. Comment. ^\ 3. — The Greeks called him, in their language, 
Eutuches, which means happy, and is similar to Bonaventura. Some have 
called him Eustathius and Eustachius, but erroneously, or only to notice, ac- 
cording to their signification, that he maintained the truths of religion with 
immovable firmness, and that he was in the Churcli as soil abounding in 
good graces. 

II Octav. supra. ^^3. 

^[ The continuators of Bollandus consider the circumstances doubtful, by 
the very expressions of S. Bonaventura in the preface to his Legend, which 
give room to suppose that S. P^rancis was already in Heaven when his mother 
prayed for his cure. We cannot avoid admiiling that their remark is judi- 
cious, and worthy of examination; nevertheless, since they do not brnig it 
forward as a positive proof, as, in fact, it may be controverted, we ailhere to 
the common opinion. Whatever may be as to the circumslances, the fact is 
beyond dispute, that Bonaventura was snatched from the jaws of death by the 
merits of Saint Francis. Neither can it b<^ denied that he was a great man 
in the Church, nor that the Order of Friars Minors received a great increase 
of sanctity through him. The only thing in question, therefore, is, as to one 
prediction more or less in the Life of the blessed patriarchy where so many 
sire incontestable. — Act. SS. Supra C!omnicnt. V^ '?. 



332 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

Seraphic, because of the divine love with which he was inflamed, 
when Jesus Christ, under the figure of a seraph, imprinted on 
him the sacred stigmata, so St. Bonaventura has been called the 
Seraphic Doctor, '* because his whole doctrine, as well as his whole 
life, breathes the fire of charit}'.'' It is a torch which bums and 
illuminates ; "^ it influences while instructing ; whatever truths he 
expounds, he brings back all to God by love, and, to define him 
properly, he should be st\-led the Seraphic and Cherubic Doctor, f 
'Tis thus that Gerson, the Chancellor of the Universit}- of Paris, 
expresses himself. 

"If I am asked," he continues, ''which amongst the doctors 
seems to me the best calculated to instruct, I answer, without 
detracting from any other, it is Bonaventura, because he is sure, 
solid, exact, and devout, at one and the same time ; and separ- 
ating from his theolog}' all questions foreign from the purpose, all 
superfluous dialectic, and that obscurit}' of terms with which so 
many others load their works, he turns into piet}' all the beautiful 
lights he gives to the mind. In a word, there is not a doctrine 
more mild, more salutar}', more sublime, than his ; and indevo- 
tion alone can neglect it. As to me," he adds, ** ha\ing re- 
commenced studymg it since I am grown old, the more I advance 
the more I am confounded, and I say to myself : ' What is the use 
of so much talking, and so much writing ? Here is a doctrine 
which is quite sufficient of itself, and it is only necessar}^ to tran- 
scribe and to spread it into facts. ' " — Such is the opinion of the 
celebrated Gerson as to St Bonaventura, before he was canon- 
ized, declared a Doctor of the Church, and honored by the title of 
Seraphic, which he shares with his blessed father. The Abbot 
Trithemius, of the Order of St. Benedict, passes a similar 
eulogium on him, to which the Sovereign Pontiffs, Sixtus IV. 
and Sixtus V., have added the crowning point in their Bulls, the 
one for his canonization, the other for his doctorship. 

The second particularity of his life, which had relation to St 
Francis, is, that he gloriously verified his prediction as to the 
fruits of sanctity which he was to bring to the Order. Having 
been elected general when he was five and thirty years of age, 
in consequence of his great talents and eminent \-irtues, he 
governed his brethren for eighteen years with so much zeal, light, 
mildness, and wisdom, that he perfectly made amends for the evil 
which the relaxation of some and the perpiexit}' of others had 
occasioned. He prepared such judicious regulations for the form 
of government, for the recital of the Divine Office, for the regu- 



* Joan. V. 35. 

t Gers. de Exam. Doct. et Epist. de Laud. Bon. p. 553, et seq torn. I. 
Edit. Par. 1606 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSLSI. 333 

larity of discipline, that they have served as a basis and foundation 
for all the statutes which have since been introduced into the 
Order. 

He decided on the difficulties which occurred as to the obser- 
vadon of the Rules, and this with so much precision, that, in 
order to follow them exactly and conscientiously, without scruple, 
it is only necessary to practise what he has clearly laid down. 
He composed spiritual treatises, so elevated, so instructive, and so 
affecting, that they are alone sufficient to guide the Friars Minors, 
or all other persons of piety, to the sublimest perfection. He 
answered, with so much strength and judgment, the philosophers 
of his day, who attacked the Mendicant Orders, despite of the 
sovereign Pontiffs, by whom they were approved, that his works, 
with those of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas of Aquino, will ever 
cover with confusion whosoever may attempt to renew the former 
disputes on this head. 

"rhe exertions which St. Francis made, during a short interval 
from pain, for the salvation of souls, in an unfavorable season of 
the year, increased all his maladies, His legs became inflamed, 
and he was obliged to lie up in a small hamlet near Nocera. 
When this was known at Assisi, the fear they had lest he should 
die on the way, and lest his country should be deprived of his 
precious remains, induced the authorities to send means to bring 
him into town. 

This deputation, returning with the patient, arrived at the 
dinner-hour in the village of Sarthiano, where they found nothing 
to be purchased for their meal, although they offered a double 
price for every thing they wanted. Upon their complaining of 
this, Francis said : ''You have not found anything, because you 
have had greater confidence in your flies than in your Lord" (he 
called their money flies) ; ''but return to the houses where you 
have been, and ask them humbly for aln^s, offering to pray to 
God for them in payment. Don't think, under false impressions, 
that there is anything mean or shameful in this, for, since sin came 
into the world, all the good which God so liberally bestows on 
man, on the just, and on sinners, on the worthy and unworthv, 
is done by means of alms, and He is the chief almsgiver." These 
men overcame their bashfulness, and went cheerfully to beg for 
the love of God, and got whatever they wanted, although "they 
had not been able to obtain it for money ; God having so touched 
the hearts of the inhabitants, that, in giving what they had, they 
offered spontaneously every other service. 

In this destitution where money was of no use, the rich 
poverty of Francis was a fortunate supplement, observes St. lx)na- 
ventura ; and the instruction he gave in denominating all the 
bounties of God as so many alms from the time man had fallen 



334 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

into sin, is a lesson for those worldlings who despise the state of 
voluntary dependence on the charity of the faithful. It is an 
article of faith, that sin has reduced us all to a state of extreme 
poverty, which can only be relieved by the gratuitous liberality of 
the Lord, which is a pure alms. Although we may, with the 
grace which He infuses into us, justly merit an increase of that 
grace, and win eternal life, ''yet," says St. Augustine,* ''our 
merits are the gifts of God, and must be considered as charitable 
gifts, not only because they are based upon the merits of Jesus 
Christ, and are his gratuitous promises, but because the com- 
mencement of all merit is a grace bestowed out of pure mercy to 
a sinner who is unworthy of it." 

And for this reason St. Augustine f represents to himself all 
men before God, as beggars before the doors of Him \vho is 
infinitely rich, who beg for bread, for grace, and for His kingdom. 
Thus men of the world ought not to feel such contempt for men- 
dicity ; they are all obliged to beg, and they do so not only to 
God, but also to other men, those in the highest conditions of 
life as well as those of the lowest. What are courtiers, as respects 
their sovereign, more than professional beggars.^ This sort of 
mendicity is not considered disgraceful, because it has for its ob- 
ject splendid advantages, but, in the eyes of faith, and even in just 
reasoning, it is still more disgraceful, inasmuch as it has its origin 
in immoderate cupidity. 

All these reflections were contained in the short instruction of 
St. Francis, and they show us that the spirit of God, \vhich is 
manifested to us by the mouths of the saints, as in the Holy 
Scriptures, says great things in few and concise words. 

The Bishop of Assisi had the man of God brought to his palace, 
and kept him there till the spring of the year 1226, providing 
him with everything he required, with great affection. One day, 
when his stomach loathed everything, he expressed a wish for a 
particular sort of fish, which the severity- of the winter made it dif- 
ficult to procure, but, at the very moment, a messenger sent by 
Brother Gerald, the guardian of the convent of Rieti, brought 
three large fishes of this species, with certain sauces which were cal- 
culated to sharpen the appetite and strengthen the patient Thus 
it is that it sometimes pleases the Lord to give sensible relief to 
His friends w^ho have neglected their health and crucified their 
flesh for His sake. 

The children of the holy patriarch, and particularly Elias, his 
vicar-general, who saw that there was no amelioration in the state 

* S. Aug. serm. 333, n. 5, in Psal. xxxviii. n. 8, lib. de Grat. et lib. arb. 
n. 15, Epist. 194. no. 19, edit. Bened. 

+ Id. in Psalm cxlii. n. 17, serm. 56, n. 9. Serm. 63, n. 2. 



S. IRANXIS OF ASSISI. 



535 



of his health, but that, on the contrary, his disorders increased 
with the renewal of the year, entreated him to allow himself to be 
removed to Sienna, where the mild climate and the excellence of 
the physicians might afford him some relief, if there w^ere no 
hopes of a cure. And they urged this so energetically, that, as he 
was mild and obliging, he consented to be taken thither at the 
beginning of April. But all his ills continued, and the disorder 
of his eyes was greatly increased. A red-hot iron was again 
applied to both sides of his head, from the ears to the eyebrows ; 
but this had no good effect, though he suffered no pain from it, 
God having renewed the miracle He had before performed in his 
favor. 

He received many visits while at Sienna, particularly from the 
Friars Preachers, who knew the strict friendship which bound him 
to St. Dominic. At the end of the volume we prop^^se placing 
on record the learned answers he made them on difficult questions 
which they put to him. One of them, a doctor in theology, hav- 
ing learnt that Francis had foretold to one of his friends in the 
town what would happen to him at his death, had some doubts 
on the subject, and came to Francis and asked him if it was true. 
The saint assured him it was, and foretold at the same time to the 
doctor his own death, which he had made no inquiries about ; 
and, in order to impress the certitude of it more strongly on him, 
he spoke to him of a certain scruple which lay on his conscience, 
and which he had not communicated to any one; and he ex- 
plained the subject so clearly to him, that he quite removed his 
perplexity. The doctor was made fully aware, by this miraculous 
cognition, that the servant of God had the spirit of prophecy, and 
he was ihe more convmced of it at his own death, which hap- 
pened in conformity with the prediction. 

The mild air of Sienna, and the attentive care of the physicians, 
did not prevent the sufferings of Francis from continuing and in- 
creasing. During one night he vomited so much blood, and he 
was to such a degree weakened from it, that it was thought he was 
about to expire. His children, cast down and in tears, came to 
him, like the disciples of St. Marcin,* when he was on the point 
of death, and said to him, sobbing: — 

''Dear father and master, we are greatly distressed to see you 
suffer so intensely, but we are likewise afflicted for ourselves. 
After all your labors you are about to go to the enjoyment of eter- 
nal repose, but we shall remain without our father and pastor; 
you have begotten us in Jesus Christ by the doctrine of the Ciospel, 
and wc are scarcely born before we lose you. Who will instruct 
us? Who will console us ? You have been everything to us, your 



Snip. Sev. epist. ad Bassul. 



^^0 S. FRANCIS Ob ASSISi. 



presence has been our happiness. To whom do you consign us, 
in the desolate state in which we are ? Alas ! we foresee that after 
your departure ravenous wolves will invade your flock. Leave us, 
at least, something of yours to remind us of your instructions, 
in order that we may follow them when you are no more; and give 
us your blessing, which may be our shield against our enemies." 

The holy patriaich, casting his eyes affectionately on his children, 
called to him Brother Benedict of Piratro, who was his infirmarian, 
and who, during his illness, said Mass in his room : '' Priest of God," 
said he, "commit to writing the blessing I give to all my brethren,; 
as well to those who are now in the Order, as to those who shall 
embrace it to the end of the world. As my great sufferings and 
extreme weakness prevent me from speaking, here are in few words 
my mtentions and last wishes : ' May all the brethren love each 
other as I have loved them, and as I now love them. May they 
always cherish and adhere to poverty, w^hich is my lady and my 
mistress; and never let them cease from being submissive and 
faithfully attached to the prelates and all the clergy. iNIay the 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost bless and protect them ! Amen.'" 

His sufferings being in some degree modified, and his weakness 
no longer so intense, his zeal induced him to think of instructing 
and exhorting the absent, for, by the example of the Son of God, 
he loved his own even to the last* As he could no longer make 
use of his speech for their sanctification, he caused his companions 
to write a letter, which he addressed to the minister-general of the 
whole Order, in which, after very salutar}^ instructions, he confessed 
his sins with great humility. We reserve this for the last book, 
because it is very long, and the reflections which arise from its 
consideration would carry us at this time too far. 

As soon as Brother Elias, the vicar-general, learnt the extreme 
danger in which the father was, he came in great haste to Sienna, 
and proposed to him to be removed to the convent of Celles, near 
Cortona. Francis was very glad to see him, and was quite willing 
to be removed to Celles, where he was attended with great care by 
the relations and friends of Elias, who were of that country. But, 
as he became swollen, and the sufferings of his stomach and liver 
were greatly increased, he requested to be taken to Assisi ; which 
the vicar-general had done with all the care and precaution possible. 
His return was a source of extraordinary gratification to the inhab- 
itants, who had been fearful of being deprived of so great a treasure 
had he died elsewhere. They went in crowds to meet him, with 
great expressions of pleasure, and the bishop received him again 
into his palace. 

Before we put on record the last acts and precious death of St. 

* Joan. xiii. I, 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. T^T^J 

f lancis, it will be proper to notice the state in which his Order 
was at that time. There were some of his brethren in all parts of 
the known world. In Europe, they filled all Italy. Greece fur- 
nished them a province. The esteem of the great, and the love 
of the people, procured for them, daily, new houses in Spain, Por- 
tugal, France, the Low Countries, and England. They had spread 
into Scotland, and began to be received in Ireland. Brother Albert, 
of Pisa, had sent missioners into Upper and Lower Germany, with 
great success. They had penetrated into Poland, and into the 
countries of the North. In Asia, those whom the holy patriarch 
had left, with others who followed, multiplied the missions among 
the Saracens. In Africa they continued to preach Jesus Christ to 
the Mohammedans, and we see by letters dated from Rieti, the 
yth October, 1225, which Pope Honorius addressed to tne Friars 
Preachers and Minors, destined by the Apostolic See for the mis- 
sion into the kingdom of the Miramolin, and to whom he gave 
very extensive powers ; saying of them, *^ that they renounced them- 
selves, and desired to sacrifice their lives for Jesus Christ, in order 
to gain souls for Him." 

The Second Order instituted by Francis, and called that of the 
Poor Dames, spread itself also throughout Europe, and the Third 
Order of Penance likewise made great progress. 

The children of this holy patriarch, being thus spread in all 
parts, preached the Gospel to the infidels, repressed heresies, ' 
attacked vice, inspired virtue, and gave admirable examples of 
poverty, humility, penance, and all perfection. 

Anthony, of Padua, preached in Italy and France with so much 
lustre, that he has ever been considered as one of the most 
marvellous preachers whom Italy ever saw. The strength and the 
unction of his discourses, the eminent sanctity of his life, the evi- 
dence of his miracles,* changed the face of the towns in which 
he announced the word of God. His auditors, penetrated with 
compunction, and bursting into tears, excited each other to works 
of penance ; the revengeful, the lascivious, the avaricious, the 
usurers became converted, and resorted to the tribunals of penance, 
and the number of priests were insufficient to hear the confessions. 

In the year 1225 he came to Toulouse, f and visited other 
towns of France, where his principal object was to confront the 
heretics. Animated, with the same si)irit which inspired his 
father, Francis, with so perfect an attachment ti^ the Roman 
Church and the Holy See, he was the declared enemy of all 

* It is not from IJaillet that the miracles of Si. Anthony, of Pndua, are to 
be judged ; he rejects them all in his usual manner ; but the judicious critics, 
such as the continuators «»f Bollandus, ailmit llie truth of them, anil produce 
the procfs.— Act. SS. 13. Jan. 

t Sur. et Act. SS. vit. S. .Vnton. 13 Jan. 

15 



^^S S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

errors, and he labored with all his strength to root them out. 
By quotations from the Holy Scriptures, with which he was 
intimately conversant, and the sense of which he perfectly under- 
stood, and by the solidity of his reasoning, he confounded the 
sectarians, and created a great horror of the false doctrines they 
taught. With admirable tact he discovered their artifices and 
frauds, which he laid before the people, to preserve them from 
iheir seduction ; and, in fine, he pursued them with so much 
vigor and perseverance, that the faithful gave him the name of 
the indefatigable mallet of the heretics ; none of them ventured 
to enter the lists with him, nor even to open a mouth in his 
presence. 

God favored him by converting * a very great number of their 
supporters, and, what is \ery singular, many of the heads of their 
party. At Bourges a man whose name was Guiald, and whom 
the historian calls an heresiarch, w^as so convinced by the power 
of his words, and by a marked miracle of the real presence of 
Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, that he persevered till death in the 
Catholic faith, and in submission to the Church. Another 
named Bonneville, or Banal, who is also stated to have been an 
heresiarch, who had been thirty years buried in the darkness of 
errors, was converted in a similar manner at Rimini by the 
sermons of St. Anthony, and had a like perseverance. It must 
be admitted that the favor is very rare. It has been remarked 
that, among all the authors of heresies, and the chiefs of the sects, 
there are scarcely any who have been sincerely restored to the 
Church ; they have obstinately persisted in their errors until 
death, although they had seen them condemned, and some of 
them were long-lived. It would be easy to adduce examples less 
remote from our days than that of Theodore Beza, who, at the age 
of seventy, resisted the pressing solicitations of St. Francis de 
Sales, f and died some years afterwards in the errors of Calvin, 
whose successor he was. It is a just judgment of God against 
these proud men, who have rebelled against their mother the 



* lb. Sur. cap. 9 and 17. Act. SS. pp. 708, 725. 

t He went by order of Pope Clement VIII. to Geneva to confer with 
Theodore Beza, to induce him to return into the Catholic Church, and he 
returned there three times to the great peril of his life. Beza was so much 
moved, so taken up by the reasoning and the mildness of St. Francis de 
Sales, that, pressing his hand, and raising his eyes to Heaven, he said with a 
sigh: *' If lam not in the right way, I daily pray to God, in His infinite 
mercy, to lead me into it." He felt more than any other the weakness of his 
party; his conscience filled him with poignant remorse, he was agitated, 
and his agitation was visible in his countenance; nevertheless, he did not 
surrender; human respect, long habit, the shame of unsaying, and certain 
secret engagements, prevented his embracing the truth of which he was 
convinced. — I jfe of S. Francis de Sales by Marsallier, lib. iii. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 339 

Church, who lose an infinity of souls by the ill use they make of 
their talents, authority, and all other means by which they seduce 
them. 

The state in which, as we have just shown, St. Francis left his 
Order when on the point of death, must be looked upon as one 
of the principal marvels of his life. Gbd had predestined him for 
this great work ; he labored at it for eighteen years without 
ceasing, with all possible assiduity, and, on the eve of quitting 
this world, he might say, in conforming himself to Jesus Christ, 
after having profited by His grace, '' I have glorified Thee on earth ; 
I have finished the work Thou gavest me to do, I now go to 
Thee/'* Happy the Christian whose conscience bears him thus 
out on the bed of death, who can say that he has endeavorel 
to do what God required of him, and fulfilled the duties of his 
profession. 

* Joan. xvii. 4, 13. 



THE LIFE 

OF 

SAINT FEANGIS OF ASSISl. 



I 



BOOK V. 



The criiel and continued pain under which the holy patriarch 
suffered, did not prevent his giving instruction to his children, 
his providing for their spiritual wants, and giving answers, with 
admirable presence of mind, to various questions which were 
put to him relative to the observance of the Rule, and the govern- 
ment of the Order. He spoke as freely, and with as much com- 
posure, as if he felt no inconvenience. As his body became 
weaker, his mind seemed to acquire fresh vigor. We do not 
insert here the admirable tilings he then said, because they would 
occupy too much space, but they will be found at the end of 
this work. 

One day, when his sufferings were greatly aggravated, he re- 
marked that they were taking great pains in endeavoring to afford 
him relief, and fearing that fatigue would cause some of those 
who were about him to become impatient, or that they might 
complain that their attendance on him prevented them from 
applying to their spiritual exercises, he addressed them affection- 
ately, saying : '^My dear children, don't tire of the trouble you 
take for me, for our Lord will reward you, both in this life and in 
the next, for all you do for His little servant ; and if my illness 
takes up your time, be assured that you will gain more from it 
than if you were to labor for yourselves, because the aid you give 
me is given to the entire religious, and to the lives of the brethren. 
I also assure you that God will be your debtor for all that you 
will spend for me." 

It is very true that those who assisted the saint in his illness 
labored for the entire religious, and for the spiritual life of hU 
brethren, because they aided in the preservation of him who wa; 
so necessary to his C)r(lcr ; and they pul it in his ])o\ver .to give 



342 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

further instructions to his brethren who were now in it, and to 
those who were to enter it in future. 

On another occasion, when his sufferings were apparently 
bringing him to extremity, one of his infirmarians said to him : 
''Brother, pray that God' may treat you with less severity, for it 
seems that His hand presses too severely upon you.'' At. these 
w^ords Francis exclaimed in a loud voice : ''If," said he, "I was 
not aware of the simplicity and uprightness of your heart, I 
should not dare to remain in the same house with you from this 
instant, who have had the rashness to criticise the judgments of 
God in my regard ; " and immediately, notwithstanding the weak 
state in which he ^^'as, he threw himself on the ground with such 
violence that his worn-out bones were all bruised ; he kissed the 
ground and exclaimed : " My God, I return Thee thanks for the 
pains I endure, and I pray Thee to add to them an hundred-fold, 
if such should be Thy good pleasure. It will be pleasing to me 
to know that, in afflicting me. Thou dost not spare me, for the 
greatest consolation I can enjoy is, that Thy holy will shall be 
fulfilled.'"' He had in his sufferings similar feelings to those of 
holy Job,"^ and he expressed himself in a similar manner. Ought 
not all Christians to have such feelings in their illnesses and other 
afflictions ? Are the saints not to be imitated in this .-' May we 
not, by the grace of God, which assuredly will not be wanting, 
practise those virtues by which they became saints ? 

Clara and her daughters, hearing that their father was so 
dangerously ill, sent to express to him the grief which it caused 
them, and they entreated him to mitigate their sorrow^ by sending 
them at least his blessing. The holy patriarch, full of tenderness 
for these pious virgins, and sympathizing in their grief, and in 
that which they would feel on his death, sent them some verses 
he had composed in the praise of the Lord, and added to them a 
letter of exhortation, in which doubtless he gave them his blessing 
most amply, but this is not found in his works. We find in 
them only the following fragment, which may belong to the 
letter he had written to them at that time : — 

" I, Brother Francis, little man, I choose to follow the example 
of the hfe and poverty of Jesus Christ, our most high Lord, and 
that of His holy Mother, and to persevere in it to the end. I beg 
you also, all you whom I consider as my Ladies, and I recom- 
mend you to conform yourselves at all times to this life and to 
this poverty, the sanctity of which is so great. Be careful not to 
swerve from it in the least, nor to listen to any advice, nor to 
anything which may be said to contravene it.'"' 

The oldest historians of the Order say that, in the letter he sent 



Job, \'i, 9 and lo. 



- S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 343 

them shortly before his death, he entreated them, that, as the 
Lord had brought them together from many places, in order that 
they might apply themselves to the practice of the sacred virtues 
of charity, humility, poverty, and obedience, they should use 
eveiy effort to pass their lives accordingly, and to die in their 
perseverance. He exhorts those of his sisters who were suffering 
irom sickness, to have patience under their ills. And because he 
knew how austere they were, he recommended them to use with 
discretion, and with joy and thankfulness, the alms which Divine 
Providence sent them. In fine, he promised Clare that she 
should see him, and, in fact, after his death she and her daughters 
did see him, as shall hereafter be related. 

The same writers add, that he had always entertained peculiar 
affection and regard for these holy religious females, thinking that 
the holiness of their life, which had been from the beginning one 
of great poverty and mortification, reflected glory on the religious 
state, and was a source of great edification to the whole Church. 
He wrote to them several other times, to encourage them in 
virtue, and particularly in the love of poverty, as we find by the 
will of St. Clare, * but the letters are not extant. 

Even at this day we are sensible of the truth of what he said ; 
nothing is more glorious for the regular state, and nothing more 
edifying for the whole Church, than to see the nuns of St. Clare, 
who kept the rule of their Order without the slightest mitigation, 
who renounce the possession of any property whatsoever, whether 
private or in common, who live wholly on alms, and in such a state 
of rigorous austerity, that the stronger sex would find to be quite 
appalling. In no other monasteries, notwithstanding, are more 
harmony, more content, more liberty of mind, or more of that joy 
found, of which our Saviour has said, that ''it is in the heart 
that their joy shall be full, and that no man shall take it from 
them." * 

As soon as it was known in Assisi that the holy man was at the 
point of death, the magistrates placed guards round the episcopal 
palace, with orders to keep strict watch, lest his body should be 
taken away the moment he should have expired, and thus the city 
should be deprived of so precious a treasure. 

The physician, whose name was John Lebon, a native of 
Arezzo, communicated to him that death was approaching ; his 
brethren told him the same thing. Full of joy, he began to praise 
God, and having caused some of the choir-singers to be called in, 
he sang with them in a loud voice the last verses which he had 
added to the Canticle of the Sun : ''Be praised, O Lord ! for the 
death of our sister, which no man living on earth can escape," 



* Wading, ad ami. 1253, No. 5. * Jolui xvi. 2Z and J4. 



344 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISL 

etc. Elias, whose thoughts were always governed by human 
prudence, was fearful lest his singing should be considered a 
weakness of mind arising from the fear of death, and entreated 
him to stop. ** Brother," replied Francis, with extraordinary' 
fer\or, * * permit me to rejoice in the Lord, and to thank Him for 
the great tranquillity of my conscience. I am, through His 
mere}' and His grace, so united to my God. that I have just 
reason to manifest the joy that He gives me, who is the high and 
most liberal Giver of all good gifts ; and do not imagine that I 
am so wanting in courage as to tremble at the approach of death. " 

He had his children brought to him, and he blessed each one 
of them as the Patriarch Jacob had done,* giving to each an appro- 
priate blessing. Then, after the example of Moses, f who blessed 
all the faithful Israelites, he iave a general and ample blessing 
to the whole Order. 

As he had streched r - :r^ t tr the other in the form of 
a cross, as Jacob J had r :he children of Joseph, his 

right hand came upon : Z - who was kneeling on his 

left He asked who ii .c.^. :r ..is sight was quite gone, and 
being answered that it was Brother Elias, *'*Tis well,' he said, 
' • my right hand is properly placed on him. My son, I bless you 
in all and above all. Inasmuch as under your hand the ^tost 
High has increased the number of my brethren and children, 
thus I bless them all in you. ^lay God, the Sovereign Lord of 
all things, bless you in heaven and on earth ! As for me, I bless 
you as far as is in my power, and even more than that ; but may 
He who can do all, do in you what I cannot ! I pray that God 
may bear in mind your labors and your works, and that He may 
give you a share in the rewards of the just, that you may obtain 
the blessings you wish for ; and may what you solicit worthily be 
fiilfilled ! •' 

The reader may perhaps be surprised that Francis, who knew 
Brother Elias, and who had learnt by revelation that he was to die 
out of the Order, should have given him so ample and so detailed 
a blessing : but we must recollect that He who enlightens the 
saints, inspires them with ^-iews similar to His own. He loves 
and favors thc»se who are in a slate of grace, although He fore- 
sees the great sins they will commit hereafter. What aftection 
had He not for Da\id, and what favors did He not heap upon 
him before he became guilty of the adulterv' and homicide which 
rendered him so criminal ! Thus, in a manner, the holy patri- 
arch, in blessing Elias, only had in consideration the good dispo- 
sitions in which he belived him to be at that time, independent of 
the future, which God had reve?. f : :: bim, and which was not to 

* Genesis xiix. 28. t Deuteron. xx. 2. | Genesis xlviii. 14 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 



345 



guide him in this instance. Moreover, Elias was his vicar- 
general, and was so by an order from on high ; he had labored 
usefully in the works of the Lord ; the talents he possessed put 
it in his power to do still more good service ; we cannot deny that 
he was sincerely and tenderly attached to his father, and that he 
had an ardent zeal : — all these circumstances united might have 
induced the saint to give him an ample blessing, nor was it with- 
out good effect, since he died in sentiments of sincere repentance. 

The man of God finding the day of his death, which Jesus 
Christ had revealed to him, draw near, said to his brethren in the 
words of the Prince of the Apostles, ' ' The laying away of this my 
tabernacle is at hand ; " * and he begged them to have himself 
taken to the convent of St. Mary of the Angels, wishing, as St. 
Bonaventura remarks, to render up the spirit which had given 
life to him, in the place where he had received the Spirit of grace. 
He was, therefore, removed, according to his desire ; and when 
he was come to the place between the town and the convent, he 
asked if they had reached the hospital of the lepers, and, as those 
who were carrying him replied in the affirmative, he said : ''Turn 
me now towards the town, and set me down on the ground.'' 
Then raising himself upon the litter, he prayed for Assisi, and 
for all its inhabitants. He likewise shed tears, in considering 
the ills which would come upon the city, during the wars which 
he foresaw, and he then gave it this blessing : "Be blest by the 
Lord, O city, faithful to God ! because many souls will be saved in 
thee and by thee. A great number of the servants of the Most 
High will dwell within thy walls, and among the number of 
thy artisans not a few will be chosen for eternal life." 

Some time after his arrival at St. Mary of the Angels, he called 
for paper and ink, that he might acquaint Dame Jacqueline de 
Septisal of the proximity of his death : she was the illustrious 
Roman widow who was so much attached to him. *' It is right," 
he said, "that, dying, I should give that consolation to a person 
who afforded me so many during my life." This is what he 
dictated for her ; what follows shows that it was on a Sunday, 
the twenty-eighth of September : — 

" 1 o the Lady Jacqueline, the servant of the most High, Brother 
Francis, the poor little servant of Jesus Christ, sends greetings, and 
communication with the Holy Ghost, in Jesus Christ. 

"Know, my very dear lady, that Jesus Christ, blessed for ever, 
has (lone me the favor to reveal to me the end o{ my life : it is 
very near. For which reason, if you wish to see me alive, set out 
as soon as you shall have received this letter, and hasten to St. 
Mary of the Angels, for, if you arrive later dian Saturday, you will 

^ 2 \\'{cv i. 14. 



346 S. FRAiNXIS OF ASSISI. 

find me dead. Bring with you some stuff, or rather, a sackcloth, 
to cover my body, and some wax-lights for my funeral. Pray 
bring also some of those comfits which you made me take when 
i was sick at Rome.'' 

At these words he stopped, having his eyes raised to heaven, 
and said it was not necessary to go on with the letter, nor to send 
a messenger, because the lady had set out, and was bringing with 
hei- all that was required ; and, in fact, she arrived shortly after 
with her two sons and a considerable suite, bringing with her the 
stuff, a quantity of wax-lights, and certain electuaries which were 
comforting for the stomach. 

The religious asked her how she could have come so oppor- 
tunely, without having had notice given her, and how she came 
to bring all that was requisite for the time. She told them that 
during the night she had received an order from heaven, and that 
an angel had desired her not to leave out any of the things which 
had been ordered. 

There are three things to be noticed in the letter of St. Francis 
to this lady: — 

1st. He begins by these words, ''Know, my very dear lady/' 
This marks a spiritual and very holy friendship, which was 
grounded on, and had for its object, the love of God alone," St. 
Paul, writmg to Philemon,* expresses himself in a similar manner : 
"To our very dear Sister Appia /' and St. John, after having 
assured Electa, a lady of distinction, that he loved her in truth, 
both herself and her children, adds : "Now, madam, the prayer 
which I address to you is, that we should love each other/' f We 
see in the letters of St. Chr)'sostom, of St. Jerome, and St. Francis 
de Sales, the affection with which charity inspired them for Chris- 
tian virgins, women^ and widows. We must not, however, take 
their example as our authority for making use in general of 
these expressions, which charity suggested ; for all the ministers of 
Jesus Christ have not the perfection and authority of the apostles, 
the fathers of the Church, certain holy bishops, and apostolical 
men ; and all their spiritual daughters are not like the great souls, 
whom these excellent masters led into the paths of holiness. 

2d. St. Francis gave this lady a last mark of his confidence, 
and encouraged her pious feelings in applying to her for sackcloth 
and wax-lights ; but at the same time he put in practice, to the 
last, those maxims of poverty which were so dear to him, since he 
did not choose that his body should be covered, nor his obsequies 
illuminated, but by what he received as alms. 

3d. We do not perhaps understand why this holy man, who 
was so entirely dead to all the feelings of sense, should have 

* Philem. ii. t 2 John i. and v. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 347 

requested the same lady to bring him some of those preparations 
which he had taken, in former illnesses, to strengthen him ; but 
the reason is this : he was aware of the precise day on which he 
was to die ; it was his wish to give instructions to his brethren to 
the very last moment ; he had still much to say to them, and a 
will to make, which was of no small length ; his sufferings 
often brought on fainting and weakness, which prevented his 
speaking, and they naturally hastened the approaches of death. 
All this induced him to adopt all human means which should 
enable him to fulfil what he knew to be in the order of Provi- 
dence, not venturing to solicit a miracle for himself. Could he 
have acted more prudently or from purer motives ? 

The porter came to announce the arrival of the lady, and to 
inquire whether she should be admitted into the convent, for it 
had been expressly forbidden by the Rule to permit the entiy of 
any female into any of the houses of his Order ; * and he had this 
very strictly enforced at St. Mary of the Angels. But he answered 
that this lady was not to be included in the law, since her dwell- 
ing was always open to the Friars Minors, and it was no more 
than right to permit her to enter into their convent. She was, 
therefore, received with her two sons ; and she came to throw 
herself at his feet, as Mary Magdalen is represented at the foot of 
the cross ; she kissed and bathed with tears the precious wounds, 
and she also performed the functions of Martha, rendering to the 
servant of Jesus Christ all the service in her power. On the 
Wednesday morning, she proposed to send away her suite, be- 
cause she thought he w^ould not die so soon ; but he prevented 
her, assuring her that he had only four more days to live : after 
which, he said, *' You will pay me the last respect, and then you 
may return with your people. " 

On Friday, the fourth of October, he collected all his brethren 
together, blessed them a second time, and having blessed a loaf 
of bread with the sign of the cross, he gave to each a piece as a 
symbol of union and fraternal charity. They all partook of it 
with great devotion, representing to themselves, in this repast of 
love, the last supper which Jesus Christ ate with His disciples. 
Brother EHas, who wept bitterly, was the only one who did not 
eat his portion, which was perhaps a mournful foreboding of tlic 
division he was to introduce into the Order. In truth, he kept 
the piece he had received Irom their father respectfully in his 



* Although at that time no positive regulation forbade women to enter tlie 
convents, as has been observed, it was, nevertheless proliibited by separate 
regidalions, whieh were only disj^ensed with for valid reason. The positive 
law, subsequently made, does not include Sovereigns, l^inccsses of the 
])l()od Royal, and the Foundresses of convents. — Suarez, De Rclig. torn, iv, 
lib. i. ca[). 7. l*eli//ar. M;inu:d. Kegnl. lorn. i. lib. iii. Q■^\^ 6. 



34 S S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

hand ; but, as if he had cast aside the peace which was offered him 
to take possession of his heart, instead of, at least, keeping the 
morsel of bread, he gave it to Brother Leo, who asked him for it : 
great care was taken for its preservation, and God permitted that 
it should be subsequently used for the cure of many maladies. 

All the brothers had melted into tears, and the holy patriarch 
inquired where Bernard, his eldest son, was. And Bernard hav- 
ing drawn near, ''Come, my son,'' he said, "that I may bless 
you before I die." Feeling that he was kneeling on his left, while 
Brother Giles was on his right, "^ he put his hands again crosswise, 
so that his right hand came on the head of Bernard, to whom 
he gave this blessing : — 

''May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ bless you with all 
the spiritual blessings which He has shed from on high on His 
Son. As you were chosen the first to give good example of the 
evangelical law in this Order, and to imitate the poverty of Jesus 
Christ, to whom you generously offered your goods and your 
person in the odor of sweetness, so may you be blessed by our 
Lord Jesus Christ, and by His poor senant ; and may you be so 
blessed in your going out and coming in, waking or sleeping, 
living and dying. ]\Iay he who blesses you, be filled with bless- 
ings ; and may he who curses you, not remain unpunished. Be the 
lord of }'our brethren, and let them be all subject to you. Let 
all those whom you shall approve, be admitted into the Order, 
and all whom you shall reject, be rejected. Let no one have 
authorit}' over you, so that you may be at liberty to go and dwell 
where you think proper.'"' 

Bernard having retired, with his eyes bathed in tears, Francis 
said to the others : ' •' My intention is, and I direct that whoever 
may be appointed ]\Lnister-General, he may love and honor 
Brother Bernard as myself, and that all the Provmcial ^Ministers, 
as well as all the brethren of this Order, may look upon hmi as 
they have done on me ; in fact, I leave him to you as the half of 
my soul. There are few who are able to appreciate his virtue : 

* Others say that Bernard, being called to receive the blessing, proposed to 
Brother Elias. out of respect for his dignity as vicar-general, to place him- 
self on the father's right hand, and that he went to the left, and that both 
werekneehng ; that then the saint, who had entirely lost his sight, placing his 
right hand on the head of Elias, said, ^* This is not the head of Bernard, my 
eldest son ;" and then crossing his h inds, his right han:l came on the head 
of Bernard, whom he blessed. This would have been a very natural 
representation of what the Patriarch Jacob did in regard to Ephraim and 
Manasses (Genesis xlviii. 14). — Wading relates the circumstance in this 
manner in his edition of the works of S. Francis, published anterior to his 
Annals of the Order ; but he altered tliis, because he found other narratives 
more in conformity to the originals which he had afterwards seen ; and he 
tiikes not:cc of the change : wiiich shows how correct he endeavored to be. 
— Wading, Opusc. S. Francis, tom. iii. Bened. 6, et ad ann. 1226, n. 29. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 349 

it is SO great, that Satan never ceases from tempting- him, molest- 
ing him, and laying snares for him. But, by God's help, he will 
get the better of all, to the great profit of his soul, and he will 
find himself in an extraordinary manner in perfect tranquillity." 
Those who were present, and who afterwards lived with Bernard, 
witnessed the fulfilment of these predictions. His eminent sanctity, 
well known to Francis, and of which he foresaw the perseverance, 
was the reason why he ordered the others to respect him as their 
master, and why he rendered him independent, in order that he 
might have full leisure to give himself up to contemplation, which 
had such charms for him. For a similar reason, he gave him 
power to admit or reject novices, as his prudence should dictate : 
a privilege which was the more appropriate, as Bernard had been 
the first to enter into the Order. 

St. Bonaventura is silent as to the manner and fervor with 
which the servant of God received the last sacraments,* following 
in that the method of many old authors, who, in the lives of saints 
only notice those things which are peculiar and marvellous, 
without speaking of the common and ordinary actions of all 
Christians. But we have only to bear in mind the great respect 
St. Francis had for all the practices of the Church; the spirit of 
penance by which he was animated ; the vivid and tender aftec- 
tions of his heart towards the Passion of the Son of God, and the 
mystery of the Holy Eucharist ; the ardor of his zeal to cause 
Jesus Christ to be adored in the august sacrament, and revered in 
all that related to it ; his eagerness in recommending the frequent 
approach to the holy communion, and the constant recourse he 
himself had to this balm for the soul, so as, for fear of being 
deprived of it, choosing to have Mass said in his own room 
during his illnesses: — all these recollections, being united, are 
demonstrations of what must have been the dispositions of the 
saint when the last sacraments were administered to him. 

* Saint Athanasius, in tke Life of Saint Anthony, does not mention his 
having received the sacraments at his death ; nor Saint Possidius in his Life of 
Saint Augustine; nor Sulpicius Severus in the Life of Saint Martin. There 
can be no doubt that these great saints did receive them, not only because of 
their great ])iety, but because it was the custom of the Church. We see this 
in the Life of S. Ambrose, in which Paulinus, his secretary, states, n. 47, 
that the Hody of our Blessed Saviour was given liim by IJonoratus, Bishop of 
Vercelli, and that he died with this excellent Viaticum. A writer of the Life 
of S. Ik^-nard does not say that he received the Viaticum and Lxtreme Ihiction, 
but another writer of the same Life expressly notices that he did rece.ve them ; 
and both these authors were his contemporaries. The author of the Life of 
Saint Bernard, j^ublished in 1 704 by J. de Nully, ouglit to have mentioned 
this circumstance, with many others which he has omitted, and not have lin- 
ished drily by saying, '^God decided his fate, and he expired." Thus the 
silence of some authors must not ]')rcvcnt us from believing that the saints 
put in practice at their deaths what was the unifoiui custom o( the laithtul. 



350 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

He particularly desired all his brethren to have a peculiar 
veneration for the church of St. Mary of the Angels, because it 
had been revealed that the Blessed Virgin had a singular affec- 
tion for this church among all those which were dedicated to her 
name, and upon this subject he spoke as follows, with great 
animation : — 

^' It is my desire that this place shall be always under the direc- 
tion of the person who shall be Minister-General and servitor of 
the Order ; and that the minister shall be careful to select for its 
service only good and holy brethren ; and that the clerks who 
shall be appointed to it shall be taken from those of the Order 
who are the best and the holiest, and are the best instructed for 
the celebration of the divine offices, so that their brethren and 
the seculars may be edified in seeing and hearing them. Let 
them also be particular in choosing the lay brethren to be placed 
there ; let them be discreet, mild, and humble men, whose lives 
are holy, who shall serve the others without entering into idle 
discourse, not talk of the news, or what is passing in the world, 
nor of any thing which does not relate to the salvation of souls. 
It is also my desire that none of the brethren shall come here 
except the Minister-General and his companions, and that no 
secular shall be admitted, in order that those belonging to the 
place may the better preserve themselves in purity and holiness, 
and that the place itself may remain pure and holy, being solely 
devoted to singing the praises of the Lord. When God shall be 
pleased to call any one of them to Himself, I desire that the 
Minister-General may send another whose life shall be equally 
holy. My intention is, that, if the brethren shall swerve from 
the path of perfection, this place shall be ever blest, and shall 
remain as the example and model for the whole Order ; as a sort of 
candlestick* before the throne of God, and before the altar 
of the Blessed Virgin, where lamps shall be ever burning, to obtain 
from the goodness of God that He may grant His pardon to the 
brethren for all their faults, and preserve and protect this Order 
which He has planted with His own hand. 

'' My children,'' he continued, ''be careful never to abandon 
this spot, and if you are driven out on one side, return by the oppo- 
site one; for it is holy, it is the dwelling-place of Jesus Christ, and 

* We see clearly that he had here in view the golden Candlestick with 
seven branches, which Moses placed in the Tabernacle, in the spot called The 
Sanctuary ; and that which the prophet Zacharias saw, as well as those which 
were seen by Saint John, as stated in the Apocalypse. He made the appli- 
cation in a moral sense to his brethren, who, as ardent luminaries, were to 
offer to God, in the church of Saint Mary of the Angels, fervent prayers 
Avhich would be favorably received. He had a right to make this application, 
since, in the Apocalypse, a whole society, an entire Church, is designated 
unfler the figure of a Candlestick. —Exod. XXV. 34 ; Zachar. iv. 2; Apoc. i. 12. 



S. 1RA^X1S OK ASSISI. 35 1 

of the Blessed Virgin, His mother. It is here that the Lord, the 
Most High, has multipHed our numbers, from being very few ; 
here, by the Hght of His wisdom. He enHghtened the minds of 
His poor ones ; here, by the ardor of His love, he inflamed our 
hearts ; here, whoever shall pray devoutly, v/ill obtain * whatever 
he may ask : and whoever shall sin here, will be punished with 
greater rigor. Wherefore, my children, have a great veneration for 
this place, which is truly the dwelling of the Almighty, peculi- 
arly beloved by Jesus Christ and His blessed Mother. Employ 
yourselves here joyfully, and with your whole hearts, in praising 
and blessing God and His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in unity 
with the Holy Ghost. Amen." 

The day at length arrived which had been fixed by Divine 
Providence for terminating and rewarding the labors of this 
faithful servant of God : it was a Saturday, the fourth of October. 
St. Bonaventura, who considers him on his death-bed as a work 
well finished by the chisel of suffering, as a precious jewel cut and 
polished, to be placed in the sacred edifice of the celestial Jerusa- 
lem, remarks, that, finding himself near his end, and animating 
himself with fresh fervor, he stretched himself naked on the 
ground. ' ' It was, " says the holy doctor, ' ' sensibly to manifest 
that he had nothing in common with the world, in these last 
moments of his life, in which the devil might still attack him ; " 
which is what St. Gregory recommends when he says, that ''it is 
necessary to be naked to wrestle with adversaries who are naked, 
because they have no property in the world." f Thus Francis, 
stretched on the ground without even the penitential sackcloth, 
his eyes, as usual, raised to heaven, and thinking solely on the 
glory which awaited him, covered with his left hand the wound 
which was on his right side, to prevent its being seen, and he 
then said to his brethren: "I have done all that relates to 
myself; 1 entreat Jesus Christ to instruct you as to what you are 
to do." 

All the brethren were penetrated with grief and shed tears. 
One of them, whom the holy man called his guardian, knowing 
by inspiration what he wished for, \\^nt quickly to fetch a tunic, 
a cord, and the other parts of the dress of a Friar Minor, and 
brought them to him, saying : " Here is what we lend you, as to 
a poor man ; take them out of obedience." He accepted this 
alms, and was rejoiced that he was faithful to the last to poverty, 
which he called his dame and his mistress ; then raising his hands 

** lie seems to allude here to the entire remission of sins by the indulgence 
of the Portiuncula for those who, being well disposed, shall pray in the 
Church of S. Mary of the Angels, according to tlie concession made by Jesus 
Christ and by His Vicar. 

t S. Orcg. Horn. 32, in Evan ^ 



352 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

to heaven, he gave glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, that, being 
disengaged and free from even-thing, he was about to go to Him. 

At the beginning of his conversion he stripped himself before 
the Bishop of Assisi, in imitation of the poor life of our Saviour ; 
and to resemble Him more completely in His state of poverty, of 
nudity, and of suffering on the cross, he stripped himself before 
his brethren at his death, and chose to leave this world naked 
as he came into it, or, at least, only in a habit which he had 
received as an alms : such was his love of poverty. His zeal went 
even further ; he ordered his brethren, by the obedience of 
charity, to stretch him naked on the ground as soon as he should 
be dead, and to leave him in that state during the space of time 
that it would take to walk a mile slowly. This was a farther 
imitation of the Saviour, who, after His death, remained some 
time on the cross before He was taken down to be buried. 

'' Oh I" exclaims St. Bonaventura, '^ with what truth may it he 
said that this was verily a Christian man, who has rendered him- 
self perfectly conformable to Jesus Christ while living, or dying, 
or dead, and who has merited the honor of such a conformity, by 
the impression of the five wounds ! '' 

What is further remarkable is, that they asked him where the 
desired to be buried, to which he answered : "In the vilest of 
places, on the Infernal Hill, on that side where criminals are 
executed. '"' * 

This place was out of the town of Assisi, near the walls, 
vulgarly called the Infernal Hill, perhaps on account of its being 
the place of execution. The servant of God wished to be buried 
there, in order to be in strict conformit}' with his Divine ^Master, 
*'who chose,'' says St. Jerome, "to be crucified in the usual 
place of execution, fas a criminal among criminals, for the salva- 
tion of men, and to be placed in a tomb which was close by. " 
His wish became a prophecy, for, two years after his death, as will 
be explained hereafter, a church was built in his honor on the 
Infernal Hill, when the name was changed into that of the Hill 
of Paradise, and the site of the church was so contrived that his 
body was placed precisely on the spot where the gallows had been 
formerly erected. | 

Seeing his last hour drawing nigh, he summoned all his 
brethren who were in the convtnt, and after having addressed 
some words of consolation to them, to mitigate the grief they 
felt for his death, he exhorted them to love God as a tender 
Father. Then he spoke to them for a long time on the care 
they should take to persevere in the faith of the Church of Rome, 

* Wading, ad ann. 1228, n. 79. t S. Hieron. in cap. 27, Matt. v. 33. 

t Wading, ad ann. 1235, n. 19. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. . 353 

in poverty and in patience, under the tribulations which awaited 
them, as well as in adherence to their holy undertaking. He 
made use of the most moving expressions in recommending to 
them to make progress towards eternal goods, to be armed with 
vigilance against the dangers of the world, and to walk exactly in 
the paths of Jesus Christ ; remarking to them that the observance 
of His Gospel was the basis and essence of their institution, and 
that all their practices had that in view. 

Up to this time we had to admire the presence of mind and 
the strength which the saint manifested in the midst of his 
sufferings, and of the weaknesses which were hastening on his 
last moments. But there is much more room for astonishment 
when we find that, after all the exertion we have witnessed, he 
was still able to dictate a tolerably long will, full of luminousness, 
of feeling, and of vigor. We must think that the man-God, who 
spoke to the last moment so distinctly from the cross, with a 
tranquillity and grandeur which marked His divinity, had com- 
municated some portion of His strength to His creature, Francis, 
to have rendered him capable of an effort almost supernatural. 
We deem it desirable to give in this place his last will, such as he 
dictated it to Brother Angelo, one of his companions. It is 
wholly spiritual, because the sainted patriarch left to his children 
only spiritual goods : these were, as St. Bonaventura observes, 
poverty and peace. 

Thk Last Will of Saint Francis. 

''The Lord has given me grace, to me. Brother Francis, thus 
to begin to do penance. When I was in the state of sin, * it 
seemed to be very bitter to see lepers, but the Lord having Him- 
self taken me amongst them, I was merciful in their regard, and, 
in leaving them, I felt that what had appeared to me so bitter, had 
been changed into deliciousness for my soul and bodv. 

'' After that 1 tarried little in the world, I left it, and our Lord 
gave me so much faith in the Church, where He is, that I adored 
Him in it, in saying simply : ' We adore thee, O most holy Lord 
Jesus Christ 1 here and in all Thy churches which arc on earth, 
and we bless 1 hee for having redeemed the world by Th}- holy 
Cross.' 

" He likewise gave me, and He still gives me, so much faidi in 

* Although he had never lived a disorderly life, he,- nevertheless, called the 
first years of his life a state of sin, because he then loved vanity and pleas- 
ure, and because this love is a sin which leads to the commission of others. 
'' Love not the world, nor the things that are of the worKl." says ihe Apostle 
S. John (i John, ii. 15), and in i^aptisni wo renounce the pomps of Satan, 
that is, the maxims and vanities of the world. 



354 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

priests, who live according to the forms of the Holy Roman Church, 
because of their character, that, if they were to persecute me, it 
would be still to them that I should have recourse ; and had I as 
much wisdom as Solomon had, were I to find priests poor accord- 
ing to the world, I would not, contrary to their wish, preach in 
the churches in which they dwell. I mean to fear them, to love 
them, to honor them, and all others as my masters. What in- 
duces me to do this is, that I see nothing in this world so discern- 
ing of this same Son of God, the Most High, as His very sacred 
body and His most holy blood, which they receive, and which 
they alone administer to others. 

"Now, it is my desire that these most holy mysteries may be 
honored and revered above all other things, and that they may 
be put in places where they may be carefully preserved. Where- 
ever I shall find the very holy names and the very holy words of 
the Son of God in improper places,* I wish that they should be 
removed, and I beg that they may be taken away, and placed in 
some more proper locality. We must also respect all theologians, 
and all those who dispense to us the very holy word of God, as 
ministers who communicate to us spirit and life. 

^'When the Lord had committed to me the guidance of the 
brethren, no one taught me what I ought to do ; but the Most 
High Himself revealed to me that I was to live according to the 
formula of the Gospel, f I caused it to be written out in few and 
plain words, and our Holy Father, the Pope, confirmed it. 

"Those who came to me, to engage in this mode of life, gave 
to the poor all that they had. They were satisfied with our tunic, J 
covered with pieces inside and outside, if they chose, § with a cord 
for a girdle, and a pair of drawers : and we desired nothing more. 
We, who are clerks, said the office as other clerks do ; the lay 
brothers said the Pater Noster. We willingly took up our abode in 
poor and abandoned churches, we were simple-minded persons, and 
were submissive to all the world. 

* He spoke as if he was not on the pomt of death, in order to make the 
greater impression on his brethren respecting the veneration to be shown to 
holy things. 

t His testimony leaves no doubt, but that the Rule of the Friars Minors 
was revealed by God. 

t With the tunic must be included the cowl. The Rule permitted them 
to have a second tunic without a cowl ; but many went without it, out of 
mortification. 

§ They added patches to the tunic, from a spirit of poverty, and to make 
them last the longer, and have fewer new ones. It was also in opposition to 
the foolish vanity of the age, and to become more agreeable to God, by render- 
ing themselves more vile and contemptible in the eyes of the wf)rld, according 
to this view of Saint Bonaventura : **Ut seculi stultitia in fratrum habitu 
ostendatur. Qui se stultum et despicabilem exhibet huic mundo, ipsi Deo 
efficitur pretiosus." — Expos, in Reg. Frat. Min. cap. 2. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 355 

''I worked with my own hands, and I will still work,* and it 
is my fixed desire f that all the other brethren shall apply them- 
selves to some usefiil labor ; let those who know not how to 
work, learn to do so, not fi:om any wish to gain by what they may 
do, but for good example, and to fly idleness. If we are not 
rewarded for our work, let us have recourse to the table J of the 
Lord, seeking alms from door to door. He revealed to me that 
we should make use of this mode of salutation : ' May the Lord 
give you His peace.' 

** Let the brethren be very careful not to receive, on any account, 
either churches or houses, or anything which may be built for 
them, if it be not conformity with holy poverty, which we have 
promised to abide by in the Rule ; and let them always liv e there 
as strangers and travellers. I strictly forbid, under obedience, all 
the brethren, whoever they may be, to have the daring to solicit § 
any letter from the court of Rome, by themselves, or through the 
medium of any other person, either for a church or any other 
place, on pretence of preaching, or even for the safety of their 

* By this he showed his love for labor, although he knew that the time 
for his death was approaching, in order that he might thereby mduce his 
brethren to fly idleness. 

t Pope Gregory IX., who had been the intimate friend of Saint Francis, and 
who was perfectly acquainted with his intention, declared in the year 1230, 
four years after the saint's death, that his will did not impose any new 
obligations on his brethren, which was confirmed by Pope Nicholas III., in 
1779. The article, therefore, relative to manual labor must be referred to 
the fifth chapter of the Rule; on which Nicholas III. has said: "We 
declare that, on a due consideration of the words of Saint Francis, it does not 
appear to have been his intention to subject to manual labor those who are 
employed in study, or in the service and on the Divine ministries ; since we 
see in the example of Jesus Ch; ist, and of many of the holy fathers, that 
the labor of the mind is to be preferred to that of the body ; and the more 
so as what concerns the soul is of greater importance than corporal affairs. 
But this part of the Rule must be unde'-stood to relate to those who are not 
employed in such spiritual exercises, in order that they may not live in 
idlencBs; unless when they are legitimately employed in the service of the 
other brethren, or elevated in so high a degree of prayer and contemplation, 
that it would not be right to take them from it to employ them on manual 
labor." — Decree, Exiit qui seminat in 6, de verl). siginf. This declaration 
of Gregory IX., given by Wading, is taken from the Registry of the 
Vatican, n. 73. 

t He calls the goods of the rich the table of tlie Lonl, because tliey have 
received them from iJim in order to assist th. poor therewith, and because 
Jesus Christ receives, in the person of the poor, what is given by the rich. 
These are two truths of religion, taken from the Gospel, antl often dwelt 
upon by the fathers, and which cannot be too much meditated on by those 
who are possessed of this world's goods. 

^ He did not by this forbid praying for the A]-)Ostolicnl letters requisite for 
the support and government of his Ortlcr, which is inimediaiely dependent 
on the Holy See, since he himsell had frequently solicited such, lie only 
speaks of such as might be prayed for from views contrary to the spirit of 
holy poverty, humility, and the patience with which he ro<]'uired his brethren 



356 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

persons in case of persecution. But, should they not be received 
in one place, let them fly to another, there to do penance with 
the blessing of God. 

'' I will implicitly obey the ^Minister-General * of this Confra- 
ternity, t and the Guardian, whom it may please him to give me ; 
and I consent to be so bound in his hands that it will not be in 
my power to go, nor to do anything against his will, because he 
is my master. Although I am simple and infirm, it is my desire | 
always to have a clerk to say the Office to me, as the Rule directs. 
If there should be some who do not say the Office, according to 
the Rule, or who should wdsh to make any alteration in it, or 
should not be Catholics, let all the brethren, wherever they may 
be (and should such an one be there), be compelled by obedi- 
ence to take him to the custos, § the nearest to the place at which 



to love and labor for the salvation of souls. The body of the Order has 
never solicited favors of this nature. — See Pet. Marchant. Fundam. duod. 
In Coron. tot. Oper. pag. 183 et seq. 

Some Friars Elinors with some Friars Preachers, who had been selected 
by Pope Honoiius to go on a mission into the kingdom of Miramolin, they 
represented to His Holiness that, to succeed among these infidels, to pene- 
trate into the prisons where the Christians were confined, and administer the 
sacraments to them, it would be sometimes necessary for them to wear 
secular dresses, to let their beards and hair grow, and even sometimes to 
receive m.oney to have wherewithal to live. The Pope granted them these 
permissions, deeming it a case which required these dispensations: this is 
very like what is practised at the present moment in England ; without 
which the Catholics there would be deprived of all spiritual aid. ^I. Fleury, 
who notices this, should have added that in this the Friars Minors do nothing 
which is contrary to the spirit of their Rule, because the evident necessity of 
tr.e case and the salvation of souls must be preferred to a clause in the Rule. 
The Bull of Pope Honorius is dated 17th March, 1226. — Raynald. ad. ann. 
1226, n. 60. — The permission which these Friars Minors requested from the 
Pope to be allowed to let their beards gfow, shows clearly that they did not 
wear them in the beginning of the Order. Wading gives other proofs of 
this; and the contiimators of BoUandus, Act. SS. Vit. S. Anthon. 13. Jun. 
p. 714, and p. 741, confirm it, by giving the ancient portraits of the Blessed 
Benedict of Arezzo, and of St. Anthony of Padua, neither of which has 
a beard. They say that the Friars Minors who were priests, did not wear 
their beards to conform to the custom of the clergy of the 13th century; and 
that it appears that Saint Francis, who was only in Deacon's orders, did not 
s.have out of humility ; but we shall see, in the description of his person, taken 
from his historians, that he had very little beard. 

* He had lived and he died with a sincere desire to obey, nlthough he was 
the founder of the Order, and that two Popes had appointed him its Minister- 
General. 

t We have not chosen to change this term of confraternity which he makes 
use (^f, to show the fraternal union w^hich should exist among the religious of 
his Order. 

t He speaks thus to inspire his brethren with zeal for saying the Divine 
Office, even in their illness. 

^ Wading says that the Custos means Provincial, as has been remarked 
elsewhere. We mio^ht also think that it has the meaninij .of Guardian, for 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. , 357 

they may be ; and let the custos be obliged by obedience to guard 
him night and day, as a prisoner, so that no one may be able to 
rescue him, until he delivers him up to his minister ; * and let 
this minister be strictly bound by obedience to have him taken by 
brethren who are able to keep him safe, day and night f as prisoner, 
until he is delivered up to the Cardinal of Ostia, who is the pro- 
tector and censor of this confraternity. 

'* Let not the brethren say that this is another Rule; it is a 
memorial, a warning, an exhortation, and my last will, which I, 
Brother Francis, your very little servant, address to you, my breth- 
ren, who are blest by God, in order that we may the better observe 
in a more Catholic J manner, the Rule which we have promised 
the Lord to obey. Let the Minister-General, and all other ministers 
and custodes § be bound by obedience not to add anything || to 
these words, nor to suppress anything which is in it. Let them 
always have with them this writing, joined to the Rule, and in all 
the chapters which they may convene, when they read the Rule, 
let them also read these words. 

**I likewise strictly forbid, under the law of obedience, all my 
brethren, whether clerks or laics, from making any comments ^ 

the ierm Custos, in the commencement of the Order, was generally for all 
Superiors. — See Marchant, Expos, in cap. viii. Reg. 

* Wading supposes this to be the Minister-General^ but it is more probable 
that it is the Provincial Minister. 

t We here remark the zeal of Saint Francis for the preservation of the 
purity of faith in his Order. He infuses similar dispositions by this spirit. 
The Friars Minors would not suffer any one of their Order to swerve with 
impunity from the orthodox doctrine. They are ardent Catholics, born and 
open enemies to all novelties. 

t He makes use of the term, Catholice, to show that, as unity of mind is the 
reason why the faithful are called Catholics all over the world ; so also the 
Friars Minors must observe their Rule in a Catholic manner, that is to say, 
in a similar spirit, and in a similar manner, without any peculiar opinion 
which should occasion schism or division. 

% Ministers and Custodes ; that is to say, according to Saint Bonaventura, 
as has been observed, the Ministers who are Custodes, so appointed to have 
a care, to guard. One might say that Custodes in this place signifies guar- 
dians. 

II He forbade making any alteration in his will because he made it only in 
order that they should follow up the Rule with greater precision, that Rule 
of which God was the Author, who would that it should be literally observed. 
In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses forbids them to add or take from any 
of his words. In the Apocalypse, Saint John makes use of severe threats 
against those who should add to, or take from, the prophecies of that book. 
— Deuter. caj^. iv. et xii.; Apocalyp. cap. xxii. 

U We must not be surprised that Saint Francis forbade making any com- 
ments (glosses) on his Rule, since Jesus Christ had declared that it was to be 
literally kept without comment. Pope Nicholas HI., in his decretal, Exiit 
qui seminat, being a declaration as to the Rule of the Friars Minors, forbids, 
under pain of excommunication, latce sententine, to make comments even on 
this decretal, unless to make the explanation clcarei or more gianunalical ; 



358 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

on the Rule, and on this writing, saying : * It is thus that it 
should be understood/ But, as the Lord has done me the favor 
to dictate it to me, purely and simply, let it be similarly under- 
stood, purely, simply and without comment, and put the same 
in practice to the end, by holy actions. 

"Whosoever shall observe these things, may he be filled in 
heaven with the blessing of the celestial Father, the Most High, 
and on earth with the blessing of His well-beloved Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, with the assistance of all the celes- 
tial virtues, and of all the saints : and I, Brother Francis, your 
very litde servant in our Lord, I confirm to you,* as much as in my 
power, this very holy blessing, within and without. Amen/' 

Such were the last dispositions of St. Francis, which he called 
his last will. A similar name is given in ecclesiastical history, f to 
the instructions which were given by St. Ephraim on his death-bed ; 
and this name may be properly given to the exhortations addressed 
by the saints to their disciples in parting from them. They followed 
the examples of the patriarchs, J of Tobias, and of Mattathias ; 
but principally that of the Son of God, w^ho, before His Passion, 
addressed to His apostles a discourse full of the tenderest senti- 
ments. His testament of charity, which he finished on the cross, 
in favor of His blessed mother, and of the disciple whom He loved. 
As all Chrisdans are bound faithfully to fulfil what Jesus Christ has 
pointed out to them before quitting the world, it is also requisite 
that the children of the founders of Orders, who were animated by 

or for the more clear understanding the text, or the construction of certain 
words, without altering the sense in any manner, nor twist it to give it any 
other than what it literally bears. If the decretal, which is declaratory of the 
Rule, is not to be commented on, this must apply more forcibly to the Rule 
itself. It is therefore only permitted to explain it, simply literally, in the 
proper and express sense of the words, according to the intention of the holy 
founder, as Saint Bonaventura and others have done. For the same reason 
those parts of the will which relate to the Rule, ?.re not to have any comments 
made on them; and as to the other parts, there is no Friar Minor who must 
not conform to them as much as possible, in order to comply with the views 
of his blessed father. Moreover, it is the old practice of the Order to read 
in all the communities on every Friday of the year the Rule and the Will, 
not only to obey the holy founder who recommeded the reading of these two 
documents, but to impress frequently upon the members the duties of their 
profession. 

* He had been empowered by God to confirm this solemn blessing. This 
is wonderful; but is it not still more so that Jesus Christ should have said 
to Saint Peter in establishing him His Vicar and visible Head of His Church: 
**I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. And whatsoever 
thou shalt shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in Heaven : and what- 
soever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in Heaven '^ ? — 
Matt. xvi. 19. See S. Gregory Dial. lib. ii. cap. xxiii. 

tint. Oper. S. Ephrem. 

t Genes, cap. ix. 27, 48 and 49. Tob. cap. iv. and xiv.; I Mach. cap. ii. 
John cap.xiii.; xiv and xix. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 359 

His Spirit, should be faithful in practising what their fathers have 
said to them when dying. This is what an ancient author has beauti- 
fully expressed in relation to the last will of St. Francis : — '^O 
testament of peace ! O testament never to be forgotten ! which must 
be in every way respected, in opposition to which no innovation 
must be admitted ; will most valid, not by the death of the testator, 
but by the immortal glory he has received. Happy those who do 
not despise this incorruptible testament of charity, this fertile basis 
of humility, this inestimable treasure of poverty, which has been 
bequeathed by so great and so illustrious a father. " * 

After the holy man had made known his last wishes, he sent for 
Brother Leo, his confessor, and for Brother Angelo, whom he 
directed to sing in his presence the Canticle of the Sun, because 
death was very near : this is the canticle of which we have 
spoken, in which he gives glory to God for all His creatures, and 
also for death. As he was assured by revelation that death would 
remove him to eternal life, its proximity filled him with joy, which 
he evidenced by causing the praises of God to be sung. 

When the canticle was finished, he placed his arms one over the 
other in the form of a cross, — a saving sign, to which he had been 
always devoted, as St. Bonaventura remarks — and stretching them 
over his brethren who stood around him, he gave his blessing for 
the last time, as well to those who were present, as to those who 
were absent, in the name and by virtue of Jesus crucified. He 
then pronounced the following words with great mildness and 
suavity : ^' Adieu, my children, I bid you all adieu ; I leave you 
in the fear of the Lord, abide ever in that. The time of trial and 
tribulation approaches ; happy those who preserve in the good 
they have begun, f As to me, I go to God with great eagerness, 
and I recommend you all to His favor.'' 

He then called for the book of the Gospels, and requested 
them to read to him the Gospel of St. John, at that part where 
the history of the Passion of our Blessed Saviour begins by 
these words: ''Ante diem festum Paschse," before the feast of 
the Passover. After this had been read, he began himself to 
recite, as well as he could, the hundred and forty-first psalm, 
''Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi :" "I have cried to Thee, O 
Lord, with my voice ; '' and he continued it to the last verse, " INIe 
expectant justi, donee retribuas mihi :" "The just wait for me, 
until Thou reward me." In fine, all the mysteries of grace 
having been fulfilled in this man, so beloved by God, his very 
soul, absorbed in divine love, was released from the shackles of 
his body, and went to repose in the Lord. It was on a Saturday, 
in the evening, on the fourth day of October, in the forty-fifth 

* Ad Calc. Test, inter Oper. S. Franc. 



360 S. FRAXCIS OF ASSIST. 

year of his age, the twentieth of his conversion, the eighteenth of 
the institution of his Order, and the beginning of the third since 
he had received the Stigmata. 

Such a death makes good what the holy fathers of the Church 
say,* that the perfect Christian dies with joy, and with pleasure. 
There is no one who would not wish for such a death. The 
most worldly would desire with Balaam, that their life should end 
as that of the just ; but the perfection of the just must be imitated 
to afford any hope of the end being similar : death is only mild 
and consoling in proportion to the fervor of a Christian life. 

St. Bonaventura places on record many proofs which they had 
of the gloiy of St. Francis at the moment of his death. Onef of 
his disciples saw his blessed soul, under the figure of a brilliant 
star, rise upon a white cloud, above all the others, and go straight 
to heaven. This marked, says the holy doctor, the splendor of 
his sublime sanctity, with the plenitude of grace and wisdom, 
which had rendered him worthy of entering into the regions of 
light and peace, where, with Jesus Christ, he enjoys a repose 
which will be eternal. 

Brother Austin, of Assisi, Provincial of the Terra di Lavoro, a 
lust and saintly man, who was in the last stage of a severe illness, 
and had ceased to speak, suddenly exclaimed : ' ' Wait for me, 
my father, wait for me; I will go with you.''* The brethren, 
quite astonished, asked him who he was speaking to. ''What,'' 
said he, "don't you see our father, Francis, going up to heaven .f^'' 
At that very moment his soul separated itself from his body, and 
followed that of his father. Thomas of Celano, and Bernard of 
Bessa, companions of St. Bonaventura, also mentioned that a holy 
man of their day had a revelation to the effect, that the souls of 
several Friars Minors were delivered from the sufferings of purga- 
tory, and were joined with that of the holy patriarch, to enter 
heaven with him. 

The Bishop of Assisi being then on a devotional tour to Mount 
Gargano, to visit the church of the Archangel Michael, Francis 
appeared to him on the night of his death, and said : "I leave 
the world, and am going up to heaven.'"' The prelate, in the 
morning, mentioned to those who accompanied him what he had 
seen ; and on his return, having made exact inquiry, he found 
that the apparition had appeared to him at the very time of tho 
saint's death. 

His body was placed naked on the ground, and was left there 

* S. Aug. in Epist. Joan, tract. 9, n. 2. S. Greg. Homil. 15, in Evang. 
n. 3. S. Bernard, serm. ii in Fest. Sanct. Apost. n. 6. Num. xxiii. lo, 

t Saint Bonaventura does not name him ; but others assure us that it was 
Brother James of Lodi, who is buried at Saint Mary of the Angels, and 
whom God has honored by many miracles. — Wading, ad ann. 1226, n, 38. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSIST. 36 1 

some time, as he had desired. It was afterwards washed,* and 
covered with the tunic which Dame JacqueHne of Septisal had 
brought from Rome. This illustrious and pious widow had then 
the consolation to view at leisure and to kiss the wounds which 
had been imprinted on the holy man, and which she so greatly 
revered. She was animated with such fervor, that, after having 
defrayed the expense of a magnificent funeral for him, she went back 
to Rome, put her affairs in order, renounced the world entirely, 
and then returned to Assisi, where she passed f the remainder 
of her life, in watching and prayer, at the tomb of her spiritual 
father. 

The body of St. Francis, after his death, was an object worthy 
of admuation, according to this description of it, given by St. 
Bonaventura on the testimony of those who had seen it, and re- 
ported verbally to him all the circumstances, conformably to what 
had been taken down in writing. On his hands and on his feet 
black nails were seen as of iron, wonderfully formed of his fiesh by 
divine power, and so attached to his flesh, that, when they were 
pressed on one side, they protruded farther on the other, as hard 
excrescences, and all of one piece. Nothing now prevented the 
wound on his side from being seen, which he hid with so much 
care during his lifetime, — this wound, and which had not been 
made by the hand of man, which resembled the opening in the 
side of our blessed Saviour, from which the sacrament of our re- 
demption issued, J and that of our regeneration. Its color was 

* Two authors say that he was opened, and that his heart and bowels were 
deposited in the church of Saint Mary of the Angels, in order to iiave at 
least a portion of his rehcs there: and they ground this on the saint having 
said that his heart \^'ould remain in the convent of vSaint Mary of the Angels, 
wlien he designated the Infernal Hill as the place for his grave,— the spot 
where criminals were executed. This is what is asserted by the religious of 
this convent at the present time. Wading is not convinced of the accuracy 
of this, and many others reject it altogether, believing that respect prevented 
them from opening his body: ^^hich seems to be probable, and is corrobo- 
rated in Assisi by a tradition gathered from the testimony of some persons 
who were so fortunate as to have seen and touched the body. If he said 
that his heart v^ould continue at Saint Mary of the Angels, it may be under- 
stood of the peculiar affection he always entertained for that place. — Wading 
ad ann. 1226, n. 40. 

t She died in the year 1239, and was buried at Assisi in tlie church which 
had been built in honor of St. P'rancis. Her two sons, who ^vere Roman 
Senators, were likewise buried there. — Wading ad ann. 1235, n. 24, and, ad 
ann. 1239, n. 14. 

I Tlie lioly fithers say that tlic water which issued from tlie side of Jesus 
("hiist, repiesentcd IJaptism, whicli is the sacrament of our sj)iritual regener- 
ation; and that the blood represented the Kucharist, (he sacrament which 
contains tlie jnice of (.ur redemption,— the Jiody and lMi)od of our Saviour 
which nourishes us si)iritually for the sui)port of the life which we received 
in Haplism. Now, as IJaptism is the first of the sacraments, and tlie 
Kucharist is tlie greatest of Ihem all, the same saints teach us that the 

J() 



362 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

red, and the edges, rounded off, gave it the appearance of a 
beautiful rose. The flesh of the saint, which was naturally of a 
brownish color, and which his diseases had rendered tawny, be- 
came extraordinarily white. It called to mind the robes whitened 
in the blood of the Lamb,* with which the saints are clothed. 
His limbs were flexible and pliable as those of an infant : evident 
signs of the innocence and candor of his soul. The whiteness of 
his skin contrasted with the black nails of his hands and feet, and 
with the wound in his side, which resembled a fresh-blossomed 
rose, exhibited a variet}* of color which was beautiful and pleasing, 
and was the admiration of those who saw it. His body, in fine, 
was the representation of the Passion of Jesus Christ by the wounds 
imprinted on it, and of the glorious resurrection, by the qualifica- 
tions it had received. 

This marvellous and novel sight mitigated the affliction of his 
children ; it strengthened their faith, mflamed their love, and quite 
enraptured them ; and, although the death of so amiable a father 
caused them to shed torrents of tears, they, nevertheless, had their 
hearts filled with joy when they kissed the impressions of the 
wounds of the great King imprinted on his flesh. 

As soon as the news of his death was spread, and the circum- 
stances of the Stigmata came to be spoken of, the people came in 
crowds to see them : each person wished to see them with his own 
eyes, and assure himself of the truth of an event which was the 
cause of so much joy to the public. A great number of the 
citizens of Assisi were permitted to approach, to see and to kiss 
the sacred Stigmata. One of them named Jerome, belonging to 
the army, a learned and prudent man, whose reputation was very 
extensive, finding it difficult to give credit to so wonderful a cir- 
cumstance, examined the wounds more particularly and more 
minutely than the rest, in presence of the brethren^ and of many 
persons of the town. He felt the feet, the hands, and the wound 
in the side of the saint's body ; he moved the nails, and convinced 
himself so perfectly of the truth of the fact, that he was afterwards 
a most zealous advocate and witness to it, and made oath to its 
truth on the holy Evangelists. "It was,'' St. Bonaventura re- 
marks, "a case similar to that of the Apostle St Thomas, f who, 
from being incredulous, became a faithful witness after having put 

Sacraments of the Church came forth from the side of Jesus Christ, and from 
that came forth the Church. His Spouse, after His death, as Eve was taken 
from the side of Adam during his sleep. On which S. Augustine exclaims : 
**0 death, which revives the dead I What is there which is more pure than 
this Blood } What is there more salutary than this wound ? " — S. Angus, in 
Joan, tract. 120. And S,. Chrysostom says: " Every time you draw near to 
receive this Divine beverage, figure to yourselves that it flows from the side 
of Jesus Christ to your mouth." 

t Apoc. vii. 13 and 14,. * John xx. 27. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. ^f)^ 

his hands into the wounds of the Saviour, in order that his faith, 
preceded by incredulity, should strengthen our faith, and prevent 
us from becoming incredulous.'' 

The brethren, who had been present at the death of the blessed 
patriarch, passed the remainder of the night in singing the praises 
of God around the body, with a number of other persons, who 
had collected there for the purpose, insomuch that it was more 
resembling a feast of celestial spirits than the funeral service of a 
mortal, 

The next morning, which was Sunday, the holy corpse was 
carried to Assisi on the shoulders of the principal persons of that 
city, and those of the highest rank among the Friars Minors ; 
hymns and canticles being sung the whole way, while the con- 
course followed, cariying in their hands lighted torches, or 
branches of laurel. The procession passed on to the church of 
St Damian, where Clare and her nuns awaited it, and where it 
halted for a short time, to afford them the consolation of seeing 
and kissing the Stigmata. In admiring this extraordinary prodigy, 
and lamenting the death of such a father, they called to mind the 
promise he had made them during his last illness, that they should 
again see him before their death. Clare endeavored to draw the 
nail from one of his hands, which, as the head of it was raised 
above the palm of the hand, she thought she would be able to 
effect ; but she found it impossible. She, therefore, only dipped 
a piece of linen in the blood which exuded ; and she took the 
measure of the body, by which she had a niche made of similar 
size, on the side of the tiibune which the religious occupied, in 
which the image of the saint was afterwards placed. These pious 
virgins would have been glad to have detained the body longer, 
but it was necessary to resume the route to Assisi, where he was 
buried in the church of St. George, with every possible veneration 
and respect. It was there he had received the first rudiments of 
education, it was there he had preached for the first time, and 
there was his first place of repose. 

Brother Elias, in his quality of vicar-general, wrote a circular 
letter on his death, which he sent into all the provinces of the 
order. The copy* which the provincial of France received, was 

* This letter was in the original in tlie archives of the convent of Friars (Re- 
collets ) at Valenciennes in the last century ; and a copy of it was sent to 
Wading, which he inserted in the Annals of the Order. Father William 
Spoelberch, a Friar Minor of tlie province of Lower Germany, author of tlie 
new edition of a book entitled, " wSpeculum B. Francisci et sociorum ejus,*' 
printed at Antwerp in 1620 by Gerard Wolschatius. has saitl in part ii. p. 102, 
that the same letter was preserved in the same j^laco, ns an ancient and ])rj 
cious document. Hut it is no longer there; perhaps it was removed when 
the town passed under a new domination after the war, and the religious of 
the country removed to some other place ; but there remains in tlie convent of 



3^4 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

thus directed: ^'To my well-beloved brother in Jesus Christ, 
Brother Gregory, minister of the brethren who are in France, and 
to all his brethren, and to ours, Brother Elias sends greeting/' 

He first expresses his grief in very affecting terms, and in allud- 
ing to the loss the Order had sustained, he passes a high eulogium 
on the sanctity of their common father, with many citations from 
the Sacred Scriptures, very aptly applied. Then, he says, that 
what must console the children of the blessed patriarch is, that 
his death opened to him eternal life, and that previously he had 
pardoned all the offences which he might have sustained from 
any of them. This article only regarded Brother Elias and his 
adherents, for they were the only ones who had caused him any 
displeasure, and, according to all probability, Elias only adverted 
to it to soften the feelings of many who were irritated with him in 
consequence of his relaxation. After this preliminary he commu- 
nicates to them a great cause for rejoicing in the miracle of the 
Stigmata, which he treats as follows : "We had seen our brother 
and our father, Francis, some time before his death as one cruci- 
fied, having on his body five wounds similar to those of Jesus 
Christ, nails of the color of nails of iron, which perforated his 
hands and feet, his side being laid open as by the wound of a 
lance, from whence blood often percolated. Immediately after his 
death his face, w^hich was not handsome during his life, became 
extraordinarily beautiful, white and brilliant, and pleasing to 
behold ; his limbs, which the contraction of the muscles, caused 
by his great sufferings, had stiffened like to those "of a corpse, 
became pliant and flexible as those of a child : they could be 
handled and placed in any position which might be wished.'' 

He then exhorts them to give glory to God for so great a 
miracle, and adds : '' He who used to console us in our afflictions 
is no more, he has been taken from us; we are now orphans, 
and have no longer a father. But, since it is written, that ' to 
the Lord is the poor man left: He will be a helper to the 
orphan,'* let us address our prayers to Him, my dear brethren, 
and let us entreat Him to give us another chief, who, as a true 
Machabee, shall guide us and lead us to battle." The sequel 
showed that Elias wished to be himself the Machabee, the head 
of his brethren. At the close of the letter he ordered prayers for 
the deceased, saying: ''It is not useless to pray for the dead ; 
pray for him, as he requested we should : but at the same time 
pray that we may obtain from God a participation in His grace. 
Amen." It was signed, '' Brother Elias, a sinner." 

Valenciennes a copy similar to the one which Wading published; and from 
the copy another was sent to the Recoil ets at Paris, which has been collated 
on the spot by Gildard du Flos. Apostolic Notary. 
* Psalm ix. 14. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSI5I. 365 

Although he had no doubt but that the holy man was in glory, 
he, nevertheless, did not omit praying for him, not only to comply 
with the wish of the deceased, and not to forestall the decision 
of the Holy See, but, also, because he bore in mind what St. 
Augustine had said,* that the sacrifices and prayers offered for the 
dead whose life has been irreproachable, are acts of thanksgiving. 

Before giving an account of the canonization of St. Francis, and 
of the celebrated translation of his body to the church which was 
built in his honor and in his name at Assisi, we must call atten- 
tion to several instances of his heroic virtue and his holy doctrine, 
which we have reserved for this last book, not to interrupt the 
course of the history ; and we shall add some particulars as to the 
marvellous gifts which heaven had so liberally dispensed to him. 

The eminent perfection of St. Francis was grounded on a 
tender and fervent devotion to Jesus Christ crucified. This ador- 
able object had a powerful attraction for his heart, was the source 
of all the graces he received, and the model of all the virtues he 
practised. From the sufferings of our Saviour he made for 
himself, as St. Bernard f had done, a nosegay of myrrh, which he 
always carried in his bosom ; he considered attentively the suffer- 
ings of his Beloved, he suffered them himself, and they called 
forth his sighs and his tears ; it was his wish that the fire of this 
love might transform him entirely into Him who had borne 
them. And, by a return of love, he received that signal and 
precious favor, which he communicated in confidence to his 
companions, which always made him feel that he was in the 
presence of his Saviour, as if he saw Him with his own eyes. In 
the colloquies, in the letters, and in the prayers which are found 
in his works, we see the admirable feelings he entertained for the 
crucified Jesus, and how much it was his wish that the whole 
world should know, love, and imitate Hmi ; but :here is nothing 
more to this purport than the two canticles which he composed 
shortly alter he had received the impression of the Stigmata : he 
• there, in the mo^t vivid terms, expresses the tender affection with 
which these wonderful wounds had inflamed him. All this is 
collected together at the end of the particular history we give of 
the Stigmata. 

The poverty of the Son of God, in His birth, during His life, 
and at His death, made such impression on the heart oi^ Francis, 
that he embraced this virtue with inexpressible ardor. 

Seeing that it was rejected by the world, and looking upon it 
as the pearl of the Gospel, to acquire it, he abandoned father, 
mother, and all that he had. No person ever sought after riches 



* S. Aiif^iist. Kncliirid. cap. ci\'. n. 2Q. 
t S. IJcrnard. in cant, bcnii. xliii. n. 3. 



366 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

with so much avidity, and no one ever guarded his treasure with 
so much care. He never wore, until his death, anything but a 
worthless tunic, and he refused himself everything but what was 
absolutely necessary. He would yield to no one in poverty, 
although he considered himself the most abject of all. If he saw 
any one worse dressed than he was, he considered it as a reproach 
to himself. One day, meeting a poor man who was almost 
naked, he said to his companion with a sigh : ^^ There is a poor 
man who shames us. We have chosen poverty for our greatest 
riches, and in him you see it shine far more than in us.'"' 

For his nourishment, he greatly preferred what he solicited for 
the love of God from door to door, to what was offered to him. 
He frequently considered within himself, and it brought tears in- 
to his eyes, how poor our Saviour and His Blessed Mother had 
been in this world, and the reflection induced him to live in 
greater poverty. 

As to the cells, he always chose the smallest. One of his secu- 
lar friends having had one built, which was only made of wood, 
though pretty neat, in the hermitage of Sarthiano, he found it too 
fine, and said he would not enter it a second time unless it was 
put into a state of poverty ; so that, in order to induce him to 
return, it was necessary to cover it roughly with branches of trees, 
both without and within. He left it afterwards because one of hi . 
companions had said to him, ' ' Father, I am come to look fo 
you in your cell.'*' " I will not occupy ii any longer,'' he replied, 
"because you consider it mine in calling it my cell : another may 
live in it, to whom it will not be appropriated.'' 

This is what his companions tell us on the subject: — "We 
have often heard him say, we, who have lived with him : I will 
not have as mine either dwelling-place, or any other thing ; for 
our Master ha> said : "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the 
air, nests ; but the Son of man hath not where to lav His 
head.'"^ 

He was also accustomed to say : "When our Lord went to fast 
in the desert, where He remained forty days and forty nights. He 
had no cell prepared for Him, nor any other covering ; it was only 
in some crevice of that mountain that He took repose." The same 
authors add, that, in order to imitate Jesus Christ perfectly, 
Francis desired to have neither convent nor cell which could be 
called his. And, moreover, if sometimes, on arriving, he pointed 
out to his brethren the cell which he proposed to occupy, he 
checked himself immediately, as having shown too much solicitude, 
and went into another, which had not been prepared for him. 
Shall, then, the children of the Patriarch of the poor be censured 

* Luke ix. 58. 



S. FRAN'CIS OF ASSISI. 367 

when they imitate this tenderness of conscience ; and when, to 
show their aversion to the possession of property, they call even 
the things which are most essential for them to have the use of, by 
terms which show that they hold them in common, and that they 
have nothing which is their own ? 

Although the servant of God possessed every virtue in a very 
high degree, yet it was remarked that the virtue of poverty was the 
one which was above all the others ; and this it pleased the 
Almighty to make known by an admirable vision. When the 
saint was going to Sienna, three very poor women, who resembled 
each other both in size and countenance, and appeared to be of 
the same age, presented themselves before him, and greeted him 
in these words: ''May the Lady Poverty be welcome!'' This 
salutation filled him with joy, because nothing was more grateful 
to him in greeting him than to speak of poverty, which was so dear 
to him. The vision immediately vanished, and his companions, 
who had seen it, had no doubt that there was something myste- 
rious in it ; that God meant thereby to discover to them something 
which related to their father. And in fact, says St. Bonaventura, 
these three women, who were so like to each other, were not bad 
representations of chastity, obedience, and poverty, which con- 
stitute the beauty of evangelical perfection, and were the very 
eminent characteristics of the saintly man ; and the expressions 
which these women made use of in greeting him, showed that he 
had chosen poverty as his special prerogative, and the principal 
object of his glory ; and, indeed, he was in the habit of calling it 
sometimes his lady, sometimes his mother, and sometimes his wife. 

He constantly recommended it to his disciples ; and if he per- 
ceived anything in them which did not coincide with his views of 
strict poverty, he was shocked at it. Many times he explained to 
them that his intention was, that a Friar Minor should have no 
other clothing than what was laid down by the Rule. On this 
piinciple he would not give a Provincial leave to have any books 
lor his own use which he might have collected ; and when a 
Provincial asked him what he should do with the books which 
had cost so much money, ''Brother," he replied,* "I will not, 
because of your books, corrupt the Gospel, according to which we 
have promised not to have anything of our own in this world : do 
what you please with your books, but my permission shall not be 
a snare for you, nor a stumbling-block." 

One of his solicitudes was, that his brethren should not build 
any other than small and poor convents. "So do," he said to 
them, "that poverty shall be apparent among you in all things, 



* Can we think that we have better reasons than S. Francis, for having 
books for our own pecuHar use, ami permitting others to have them ? 



368 S. FRANXIS OF ASSIST. 

principally in your houses ; and do not live in them as if they were 
your own. but as belonging to some one else, as strangers and 
travellers.'" 

A Siennese gentleman, who wished to have an establishment of 
Friars Minors in that city^ and whose name was Bonaventura, came 
to him, to know how he would have the. convent built. ''']\Iy 
most honored brother,'*' Francis replied, "the place which you 
intend for us seems to me \ery appropriate, and we return you a 
thousand thanks for it. This is how it should be built upon. The 
brethren must first examine the' ground, and see how many acres 
will suffice them, paying great attention to holy povertv^, which they 
have promised God to adhere to, and to the good example which 
it behoves them to give on this head. After that let them address 
themselves to the bishop, and say to him : ' My lord, a gentle- 
man of gieat influence here has given us, for the love of God, and 
the salvation of his own soul, a piece of ground fit to build a con- 
vent on. As you are the pastor of the whole flock which is confided 
to }ou, and of the whole of the Friars ^Minors who are at present 
in your diocese, as well as of those who will dwell therein hereafter, 
you are their protector and father, full of kindness ; it is to you 
we come first, to be permitted to erect on that spot a poor and 
unostentatious dwelling, with the blessing of God, and with yours.'' 
Having received the bishop's permission and his blessing, let 
them make a deep ditch, and, instead of walls, let them plant a 
thick hedge, as a mark of poverty and humilit}^ ; let the house be 
of wood and of earth, with cells in it, in which they may pray and 
walk, as much for avoiding idleness as for adhering to the seem- 
liness of iheir station. The church must be small ; for they must 
not, on pretence of preaching, nor under any other pretext what- 
ever, build large and handsome churches. They will give better 
example to the people in preaching in other churches,"^ and will 
manifest thereby that they are truly humble ; moreover, when 
prelates, and other members of the clerg}', or religious of other 
orders, or seculars, come to see them, a poor house and small 
cells will be a more edifying sermon in their regard, than well- 
labored discourses.'' 

The holy founder was desirous that all the houses of his Order 
should be built upon this plan ; but the princes and other bene- 
factors had very beautiful edifices constructed according to their 
views of magnificence, and to their piety. Brother Leo, having 
been informed of this by his brethren, and others, who arrived from 

* This is followed up sufficiently, since the Religious of S. Francis fill so 
niTiny pulpits in cathedrals and in the parishes. If they preach sometimes 
in their own churches, it is in consequence cf the multitude of the faithful, 
and other reasons relative to the salvation of souls, in the different circum- 
stances of time and place. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 369 

the further side of the Alps, spoke^ to Francis on the subject, to 
know what his opinion was on this head. "My brethren/' he 
replied, addressing himself to all who were present, '^ there are even 
now some of our own people who build spacious convents ; and 
others will come after us, who will build some so magnificent 
that the lords of the earth might dwell in them, and they will 
wear costly habits ; but it will be well in those days if they avoid 
committing mortal sins/' 

He believed that these great convents might be built without sin- 
ning mortally against the vow of poverty, but he saw also that 
much would be found in them contraiy to the perfection of that 
virtue ; and therefore he said that then it would be enough 
if mortal sin was avoided. The same may be thought of their 
tunics, which may be good and substantial, particularly in cold 
climates, provided the brethren, in accordance with the Rule, wear 
habits that are worthless. St. Eonaventura * notices the legitimate 
reasons for building spacious and commodious houses, and calls 
attention to five points, f in which those would sin grievously who 
should exceed on this head ; and he says that the worthlessness 
of the habit must be judged of by the price and by the color. 

However, religious persons know this important maxim of 
Christian morality, that, in order to avoid mortal sin in the obser- 
vation of the law, it is necessary to endeavor to abstain from those 
transgressions which may be only venial. Any contrary disposi- 
tion is dangerous, either because it is extremely difficult to distin- 
guish mortal from venial sin, as St. Augustine J remarks; or on 
account of the weakness of human nature, which urges one on 
beyond what is intended, and which becomes undeserving of the 
special graces which God gives to avoid falling into mortal sin, 
when he chooses to permit himself all that appears to him to be 
only venial. On this principle the saints whom God has raised 
up in the Order of the Friars Minors, in order to keep up the 
primitive fervor of the instUution, have been very particular in 
following, with the greatest nicety, the regulations as to their build- 
ings and dress, in order to attain the highest perfection of poverty. 

It is not possible to record in this place all the praise which the 
holy founder gave to this evangelical virtue. He called it the 
Queen, not only because it shone with splendor in |fsi s C'iirist, 
the King of kings, and in His Blessed Mother, but because it is 
elevated above all earthly diings, which it tiamples under foot. 
''Know," he used to say to his brethren, ''that poverty is the 

* S. Bonavent. determ. circa refill. S. Franc, qiuvst. 6. 

t Those who are bent upon building and ornamenting religious edifices 
sliould read wiiat tlie lioly Doctor says on this subject, lie approves only 
of what is ri'asonal)ly mxcssary. ('(Misiderini; ihe times, phices, and persons. 

I S. August. lOnehir. n. 2. In I'saim Ixxxviii., serin, n. 3. et alibi. 



370 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

hidden treasure of the Gospel, the basis on which an order rests, 
the special path to salvation, the support of humility, the mother of 
self-renunciation, the principle of obedience, the death of self-love, 
the destruction of vanity and cupidity, the rod of perfection, the 
fruits of which are abundant, though hidden. It is a virtue de- 
scended from heaven which acts within us. and enables us to 
despise everything which is despicable ; it subverts all the obstacles 
which prevent the soul from perfectly uniting itself to God by 
humilit}- and charit}' ; it causes those by whom it is beloved to 
become active as pure spirits, and enables them to take their 
flight towards heaven, to converse with angels, though still living 
on earth. It is so excellent and so divine a virtue, that vile and 
abject vases such as we are, are not worthy of containing it*' 

In order to obtain the grace of poverty, he often put up the 
following prayer to Jesus Christ: ''O Lord Jesus I point out to 
me the ways of povert}% which are so dear to Thee. Have pity 
on me, for I love it with such intensit}' that I can find no repose 
without it, and Thou knowest that it is Thou who gavest me 
this ardent love. It is rejected, despised, and hated by the world, 
although it is a dame and a queen, and Thou hast had the 
goodness to come down from heaven to make poverty Thy spouse, 
and to have from her, by her, and in her, perfect children. O 
Jesus, who chosest to be extremely poor ! the favor which I ask 
of Thee is, to give me the privilege of poverty ; I ardently desire 
to be enriched by this treasure ; I entreat of Thee that it may be 
mine, and of those who belong to me, and that we may never 
possess anything of our own under heaven for the glor}' of Thy 
name, and that we may exist, during this miserable life, on those 
things only which are given to us, and be ver}' sparing in the use 
we shall make even of these. Amen." 

This friend of povert}^ did not confine it to the repudiation of 
all external things : he carried its perfection to the most elevated 
spiritual point '*'He who aspires to its attainment,'*' he said, 
*' must renounce not only all worldly prudence, but in some degree 
all learning and science, so that, being stripped of all sorts of 
goods, he may place "^ himself under cover of the protection of 
the Most High, think only of His justice, and cast himself into 
the arms of the Crucifix. For it is not to renounce the world 
entirely, if any attachment to its lights, and to one's own feelings, 
remains in the secret recesses of the heart'' He did not assert that, 
in order to arrive at the perfection of povert}', it was necessar}' to 
be without learning, but he required that learning should not be 

* He makes use of the following words of the Prophet in the sense usually 
given ihera : **Quoniam non cognovi litteraturam, introibo in potentias 
Domini; Domine, mcmorabor ju-^titio^ tu.^o solius." Psalm Ixx , 17. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 371 

considered by the possessor as an interior property, from which 
self-love should be fed ; that there should not be that secret attach- 
ment to mental illumination, which is the primary source of error, 
and the basis of the obstinacy of heretics ; that all our knowledge 
should be referred to God, and that we should in some sense strip 
ourselves of it to acquire the perception of God alone, and of His 
holy law. St. Hilary said, speaking in the same sense, that we 
must always bear in mind that we are men, that we have nothing 
of our own, not even the use of our senses and faculties ; that these 
come from God, and that we must only use them as things which 
are in a continual dependence on His will.* This is an impor- 
tant instruction for the consideration of the learned. 

The lively affection which St. Francis bore for the crucified 
Jesus, from the moment of his conversion, rendered him very austere 
towards himself Not only could he not suffer that the tunic 
which he wore should have anything soft in it, but he chose that 
it should be rough and harsh ; when he found that it had become 
too soft, he put, inside, knotted cord to counteract it. 

It was usually on the bare ground that he laid his body down, — 
that body which was worn out by fatigue ; sometimes he slept, 
sitting with his head resting on a stone or piece of wood. As to 
food, he scarcely took what was absolutely necessary for his 
nourishment, and to keep life together. When in health, he 
seldom permitted anything to be put before him which was 
cooked, and then he either strewed ashes upon, or added water to 
it, to take away the taste. Pure water was his only beverage, and 
then he drank so little that it was insufficient for quenching his 
great thirst. 

Besides the Lent kept by all Christians, he kept eight others 
in the course of the year. The first, of forty days, from the day 
after the Epiphany, in memory f of our Lord's fast in the desert, 
after He had been baptized by John, which took place on the sixth 
day of January, according to the old tradition of the Church. | 
The second was from the Wednesday in Easter week, to Whit- 
Sunday, to prepare himself for receiving the Holy Ghost. The 
third, from the day after the festivals of Pentecost to the feasts of SS. 
Peter and Paul, in honor of these blessed apostles, llie fourth, 
from the day after their festivals to the Assumption, in honor of the 
Blessed Virgin. The fifth in honor of St. Michael, from the As- 
sumption to the feast of that angel. The sixth, from that feast to 

* S. Hilar., cap. iv., in Matt. 

t The Lent, which is common to all the faillifiil, was likewise instituted in 
honor of the fast of Jesus C'lnist. It has been fixnl before Easter, as a pre- 
]:)aration for the si^-lemn memorial of His dealh and resurrection; it is an 
Apostolical tradition. 

I I'aioii. ad ami. 31, 11. 18. --Ta^i. cril. ad 1111. J5, 3, el ad ann. 29, 3. 



372 S. FRAN'CIS OF ASSISI. 

the first of November, in honor of all the saints. The seventh, 
from All-Souls to Christmas, to prepare himself to celebrate the 
birth of Christ. The eighth, from the feast of St. Stephen to the 
Epiphany, in honor of the three kings. Thus was his life a per- 
petual fast. 

When he went abroad he ate whatsoever was* put before him, f 
not only to observe the direction of the Gospel, but in order to gain 
worldlings to Jesus Christ, by conforming to their ways ; but when 
in the convent, he resumed his habits of abstinence, and this mode 
of life was very edifying to laymen. The more he advanced 
towards perfection, the more he mortified his flesh, as if he only 
then began, and he hit upon new plans. We cannot form a more 
correct opinion of the evangelical hatred he bore his body, than 
by noticing the terms he made use of to express it. After having 
finished Complin, and spent a considerable time in prayer, in a 
deserted church, in which he passed the night, he wished to take 
some rest. As the evil spirits prevented him from so doing, by 
suggestions which frightened him, and made him tremble, he 
mustered courage, rose, made the sign of the cross^ and said in a 
loud voice : "Devils, I declare to you from Almighty God, that 
you may use against me all the power given to you by my Lord 
Jesus Christ, and do all the harm you can to my body. 1 am 
ready to suffer everything, and assuredly you will oblige me 
greatly, for this body is a great burden to me ; it is the greatest 
enemy I have, the most wicked, and the most crafty; and you 
will revenge me by so doing." 

Brother Giles said of St. Francis: "He only wanted one thing 
— bodily strength. If his body had been as robust as mine, no 
man would have been able to imitate his macerations.'' J This is 
what is most wonderful in what he did, with so weak and delicate 
a constitution. There can be no doubt but that the grace of Jesus 
Christ gave him powerful support, but it required his fortitude to 
respond proportionally to that grace. If we were courageous in 
the service ot God, we should mortify our bodies more than we 
usually do, particularly by abstinence, which is not less in accord- 
ance with reason and medicine, than it is to Christian morality. 

He exhorted his religious to austerity in their food, in their 
clothing, and in everythmg else. For he was convinced, as was St. 
Augustine, § that it is difficult to satisfy the demands of the body, 
without in some degree sacrificing to sensuality ; and he used to 

* Luke X., 8. 

t From this must be excepted the Lent which hasted from All-Souls' Day to 
Christmas, which the Rule directs to be kept fastmg, and which he strictly 
observed. 

\. Act. SS. 23 April, Vit. B. ^gid. part 3, cap. v., n. 70 

^N S. August. Confess, lib. x., cap. 31. 



S. FRANCIS OF AS5ISI. ^'J^ 

say, '^Our Saviour praised St. John Baptist for his having clothed 
himself coarsely. According to His wo'rd, ' Behold they that are 
clothed in soft garments, are in the houses of kings/ * it must not 
be in the huts of the poor. I have found by experience that the 
devils fly from those who lead an austere life ; and St. Paul teaches 
us, that they that are Christ's have crucified their flesh with the 
vices and concupiscences." f It will be seen in the sequel how he 
knew how to temper what seemed excess in the mortifications of 
his brethren. 

The austerity of his life did not render him less attentive in 
watching over his senses. He applied himself assiduously to their 
mortification, in order to preserve constantly the purity of his body 
and mind. The perfection he had acquired did not make him 
relax in any degree of his vigilance. He turned away his eyes 
from every object that might wound the soul ; he never looked a 
woman in the face, nor did he know any one by sight. His 
maxim was, that we must be very much on our guard in speaking 
to Christian virgins, and that the best way to strengthen them in 
chastity is, to exhort them with chaste and pure eyes. 

*' My brethren," he said, "we must avoid with great care having 
any conversations or familiarity with women, and even looking at 
them ; and so much the more must this be attended to, that in 
this we see the weak lose themselves, and the strong become weak. 
Unless our virtue is well tried, I am convinced that it is difficult 
to converse with them without contagion, as it is ' to walk on coals 
of fire without burning the soles of the feet,' as the Scripture sa3'S : 
' It is dangerous to bear in one's mind images which are capable 
of rekindling flames which have been extinguished, and to soil 
the purity of a chaste mind.' All conversation witti woman is frivo- 
lous and vain, unless in the confessional, and to give ihem good 
advice as to their salvation, or for reasonable decorum ; and then 
it should be in few words. What other objects can a religious 
have in conversing with them ? 1 oo great security puts one less on 
his guard against the enemy ; and, if the devil has the smallest hold 
on a man, he will soon increase that till it becomes formidable." 

The servant of God taught his brethren to fly idleness, on ac- 
count of the bad thoughts of which it is the source, and it is by 
useful occupation and fi'cquent discipline that rebellious and idle 
flesh must be subdued. " 1 desire," he said, " that my brethren 
may work and be occupied, lest, being idle, forbidden things may 
become spread over their hearts and their tongues. He who 
desires to live by the labor of others, without doing anything, de- 
serves to be nicknamed Brother F/y ; because, doing nothing that 
is worth anything, and spoiling what is good, he becomes (ulious 



Mnlli. xi., 8. t liahu. v. 



24. 



374 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

and despicable to all the world," If he came upon any one 
wandering about, and without occupation, he applied to him these 
words of the Apocalypse: ''Because thou art lukewarm, I will 
begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. '^* His example was an 
excellent lesson for not losing time, and fostering the idleness 
of the flesh ; he employed himself always holily, and he called his 
body brother ass, which required to be well worked, to be severely 
beaten, and to be badly fed. 

Silence was not considered by him to be a small virtue ; he 
considered it as a guard to the purity of the heart, according to 
the maxim of wisdom : '' Life and death are in the power of the 
tongue ; " f by which he understood the intemperance of speech, 
as well as that of taste. But he principally wished his brethren to 
become exact in keeping evangelical silence, which consists in ab- 
staining from all idle conversation, of which an account must be' 
rendered at the day of judgment, | and he severely reprimanded 
those who were in the habit of saying useless things. In fine, his 
instruction was, that they should endeavor to destroy all vice, and 
to mortify the passions ; and that, in order to succeed in this en- 
deavor, evQry thing should be cut off which could serve as an 
attraction, and, therefore, that the exterior senses by which death 
enters into the soul, should be continually mortified. 

As soon as he felt the smallest tempt.ition, or if he only foresaw it, 
he took eveiy precaution for resisting it. At the beginning of his 
conversion h3 frequently threv/ himself, in the depth of winter, into 
fi'eezing, water in order to subdue his domestic enemy, and to pre- 
serve his robe of innocence without stain, asserting that it is far 
less painful to a spiritual man to suffer the rigor of the severest 
cold, than to feel interiorly the slightest attack upon his purity. 

We have seen, in his Life, that he threw himself into the midst of 
thorns, to drive away the tempter who wanted to induce him to 
moderate his w^atchings and his prayers. One of his actions, the 
circumstances of which are thus related by St. Bonaventura, shows 
what was the purity of his heart, and with what force he resisted 
the impure spirit. 

One night, while he was at prayer in his cell, at the hermitage 
of Sarthiano, he heard himself called three times by his name. 
After he had answered, a voice said to him : ''There is no sinner 
in the world whom God does not pardon if he be converted ; but 
whoever kills himself by too rigorous a penance, will never find 
mercy. " Francis was made aware by a revelation that these deceit- 
ful words emanated from the old enemy, who wished to induce 
him to relax in his austerities, and he soon had sensible proof of it, 
for, "he who by his breath sets fire to coals,"' as holy Job sa}S, § 

* Ap'x:. iii., )6. t Prov. xviii., 21. J Malt, xii., 36. v^ Jo]y. xli., 12. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 375 

•'tempted him strongly to sin against purity.'' As soon as he 
became aware of it, he inflicted a severe discipline on himself, say- 
ing to his body : '' O brother ass ! this is what suits you, this is 
the way in which you should be chastised. The tunic you wear 
is that of religion, and is a mark of its holiness. It is not per- 
mitted to one who is impure to wear it : that would be a theft." As 
the devil represented to him probably that he might marry and have 
children, and have servants to wait upon him, he responded to that 
by turning his own body into derision, and treating it cruelly. 
With admirable fervor he burst from his cell, and threw himself 
naked upon a large mound of snow ; he made seven balls of it with 
his hands, and then said to himself: ''The largest of these snow- 
balls is thy wife, four others are thy two sons and two daughters, and 
the two last are thy man and thy maid-servants. I must think of 
clothing them, for they are perishing with cold, and if this solicitude 
is overpowering, think of nothing else than serving God fervently." 
At this the tempter fled, and the saint returned victorious to his 
cell, and he never after had a similar temptation. One of his 
brethren, who was at prayer in the garden, saw by the light of the 
moon what was going on, and Francis, being aware of it, could 
not avoid explaining to him the whole temptation : ^' But," said he, 
" I forbid you strictly from saying a word on the subject during 
my lifetime." It was only known after his death. 

Those who know how far the scrupulousness of chaste souls * 
will carry them, will not feel surprised that, after the example of 
many other saints, he had put in practice such severe mortification, 
to shield himself from the slightest taint on his purity. His lively 
and agreeable turn of mind are apparent in the way in which he 
taunted his body when suffering from extreme cold ; this also 
shows how much self-possession he had under the severest trials, 
and by what sentiment he was actuated in his penances. 

St. Bonaventura says that, as a skilful architect, he laid down 
humility for the foundation-stone of his spiritual edifice, and that it 
was from Jesus Christ that he had acquired this wisdom. The 
foundation was co solid that humility became natural to him, as 
well as poverty, and that it is justly that he is called the humble 



* Herelics, who are as blind to the practice of virtue as they are to belief in 
the truth, liave dared to censure this action of St. Francis as an extravagance, 
M^hich, in fact, is a heroic act of purity, and Bayle has dared to say that Fran- 
cis of Assisi had lost his senses through very false ideas of devotion. What 
idea could such a man as Bayle Unn\ of devotion, Avhose religion is still a 
problem, and whose scandalous (hctionary contains not fewer ol^scenities and 
infamies, than blasphemies and impieties? This infernal })ublication should 
not be searched on i)rctence of its learning, and of the agrceal)leness and vari- 
ety of its style. Should this trilhng literary pleasure be preferred to tlie care 
a Christian should take to avoid everytliing which is ct)niraiv to the i.ruilis of 
faiih and tli'- purity of morals? 



376 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

St Francis. He was in the eyes of all a mirror of holiness, but 
in his own eyes he was but a sinner ; on all occasions he sought to 
vilify himself, not only in his own mind, but in that of others. 

Upon one occasion Brother Pacificus, while praying with him 
in a church, was raised in an ecstasy, and saw several thrones in 
the heavens, among which there was one more splendid than the 
rest, ornamented with precious stones. As he was pondering for' 
whom this magnificent seat could be destined, a voice said to 
him : '' This was the seat of an angel, and now it is reserved for 
the humble Francis.'"' Some short time after, when conversing 
with the saint, he led to the topic of the knowledge of one's self, and 
he asked him what idea he had of himself, upon which St. 
Francis answered quickly: ^'I consider myself the greatest of 
sinners.'' Pacificus maintained that he could not conscientiously 
either say so or think so. ^'I am convinced,'' replied Francis, 
"that, if the most criminal of men had experienced the great 
mercies I have received from Jesus Christ, 'he would be much 
more grateful for them than I am.'"' This beautiful effusion 
confirmed Pacificus in the opinion he had entertained, that the 
vision he had seen was a true vision ; and it is quite in accordance 
with the maxim of the Gospel that, " whosoever shall exalt himself, 
shall be humbled ; and that he that shall humble himself, shall be 
exalted.'''^ It is humility that raises men to those places from 
whence pride cast down the fallen angels. 

We have seen the extraordinary things which Francis did in 
order to humble himself: for the same motive he felt no difficulty 
in making public the defects he thought he discovered in himself. 
If he found himself attacked by any temptation to pride, vain- 
glory, or any other vice, he never failed communicating it to 
those who were present, whether they were religious or seculars. 
One day when he was followed by a great concourse of people, he 
gave his cloak to a poor woman who had asked him for an alms, 
and some minutes after he turned round to the crowd and told 
them in a loud voice that he had sinned from vaingloiy in so 
doing. We may imagine that his humility was at that moment 
ver\^ great, which prevented him from distinguishing between 
voluntary consent and the feeling over which we have no control. 

He took great care not to do anything in private which he 
should have had any hesitation in doing in public, and which was 
not in conformity with the opinion people had of his sanctit}\ His 
illness rendered it necessary he should eat meat in the Lent he 
kept before Christmas, but this relaxation consisted only in the 
use of lard ; but he, nevertheless, accused himself of it in public, 
as an act of gluttony. His companions have recorded what he 

" Malt, xxiii.. 12, 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 377 

said ; ''I wish to live in hermitages and in other soHtary places, 
as if I was seen by all the world ; for, if people have a great opin- 
ion of me, and I were not to live as they think I do, I should be 
guilty of scandalous hypocrisy/' The vicar of his convent sug- 
gested that he should permit his tunic to be lined with fox-skins, 
to keep his chest warm, which his disorder had greatly weakened. 
*' I consent to this," he replied, ''provided you put a similar set 
of skins outside, that the world may know the relief which is 
inside also/' This condition put a stop to the proposition. 

Praise mortified him, and he liked that people should blame 
him, and he rejoiced in being despised. When he heard people 
express by acclamation the merits of his sanctity, he made some 
of the brethren say to him, " You are a vulgar man, ignorant and 
useless in the world, a nobody ; '"' and when he answered, with 
pleasure depicted on his countenance, " May the Lord bless you, 
my dear child, what you say is quite true, and is exactly what the 
son of Peter Bernardo deserves to hear.'' To those who called 
him a saint he used to say, '' Don't praise me, I may still sin ; I 
have no assurance that I shall not : a person must never be 
praised whose end cannot be known." And he addressed the 
following words to himself: "Francis, if the Most High had 
bestowed so many favors on a thief as He has on you, he would 
be much more grateful than you are." 

The great honors which were paid him as a saint were very 
distressing to his humility, and he avoided them as much as pos- 
sible ; but when he could not escape from them, he received them 
with a humble tranquillity, referring all to God, and meditating 
on the Passion of Jesus Christ. 

One day when great honors were paid him, his companion re- 
marking that he received them without showing any reluctance, 
said : " Father, don't you see what they are doing in your honor.? 
and far from refusing to receive the applause manifested in your 
regard, as Christian humility requires, you seem to receive them 
with complacency. Is there anything which a servant of the 
Lord should more sedulously avoid ? " This is the reply which 
tlie holy man made him : ''Brother, although it may appear to 
you that they are paying me great honors, nevertheless, know that 
I consider them as little or nothing in comparison with those 
which ought to be ])aid me." His companion was not only sur- 
prised, but almost scandalized, on hearing him utter such senti- 
ments ; but, not to expose his weakness, Francis added : "Now, 
be attentive to this, and understand it properly. I refer to God 
all the honor which is paid me, I attribute nothing to myself; on 
the contrary, I look upon myself as dirt by my baseness, and I 
stick in this mire more and more. It is as those figures of wood 
o: slonc Inr wliich respect is luul. 'I'licy nrilhcr fail nor retain any- 



37^ S. FRANXIS OF ASSISL 

thing of it, it comes back to what they represent ; but they remain 
always the same material, either wood or stone. Now, when men 
know and honor God in His creatures, as they do in me, who 
am the vilest of all, it is no small profit to their souls." 

This is the magnanimous humility of which St. Thomas* 
speaks, by which a man honors in himself the great gifts of God, 
permits them to be there honored, and practises the great virtues 
to render him more worthy to receive new ones, while he shrinks 
from the contemplation of his own misery. Such was the humble 
Francis, in permitting, for the glor}^ of God, and the salvation 
of his neighbor, that the supernatural gifts which had been 
imparted to him, should be honored in his person, while he 
himself only considered his own nothingness ; and afterwards 
he retired into solitar}^ places, w^here he passed whole nights in 
meditating upon this nothingness, and on the infinite mercy of 
God, which had loaded him with graces. 

Being one day with Brother Leo in one of these solitudes, and 
being without the books f necessary for saying the Divine Office, 
he invented a sort qf humiliating psalmody for glorifying God 
during the night. "My dear brother," he said to Leo, 'Sve 
must not let this time, which is consecrated to God, pass without 
praising His holy name, and confessing our own misery. This is 
the verse which I will say : ' O Brother Francis ! you have com- 
mitted so many sins in this world, that you have deserved to be 
plunged into hell.' And you, Brother Leo, your response will be, 
' It is true ; you deser\^e to be in the bottom of hell. ' " Leo 
promised, however repugnant he felt, to answer as his father 
desired; but, instead of that, he said : '' Brother Francis, God w^ill 
do so much good through your means, that you will be called 
into Paradise." The father said to him, with warmth: ''You 
don't answer as you ought. Here is another verse : ' Brother 
Francis, you have offended God by so many bad deeds, that you 
deserve all his maledictions.' Answer to that: ' You desei've to 
be among the number of the cursed.'" Leo promised again; 
but when the saint had said his verse, striking his breast, and 
shedding abundance of tears, Leo pronounced these words : 
" Brother Francis, God will render you such, that, among those 
who are blessed, you will receive a peculiar blessing. " ' ' Why don't 
you answ^er as I desire you .? " said Francis, surprised. 'T command 
you, under obedience, to repeat the words which I am going to 
give you. I shall say: 'O Brother Francis, miserable man! 

* 24, 2 a. 2ae. Quaest. 29, Act. iii., ad quartum. 

t The Divine Office was then very long, and there were only manuscript 
books, which were very expensive ; for this reason, when the Order was in 
its beginning, they had none in many of the houses, particularly in solitary 
places. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 379 

After so many crimes committed against the Father of mercies, 
and the God of all consolation, do you think he will have any 
pity on me? In truth you are undeserving of pardon/ Brother 
Leo, answer immediately: 'You deserve no mercy.'" Leo, 
however, said: ''God, our Father, whose mercy infinitely sur- 
passes our sins, will pardon you all yours, and will load you with 
His favors." 

Then Francis said somewhat angrily: '* Why have you dared 
to transgress the rule of obedience, and to answer so often so 
differently to what I desired ? " Leo excused himself most 
respectfully, saying: "My very dear father, God is my witness 
that I had each time intended to repeat the words which you had 
directed me, but He put into my mouth the words I uttered, and 
caused me to speak, notwithstanding my resolution, according to 
His good pleasure.'' The humble servant of Jesus Christ 
admired this disposition of the Lord ; but persisting, nevertheless, 
in his intention of humbling himself, he entreated Brother Leo to 
repeat, at least once, the following words, which he pronounced 
with many sighs : "O Brother Francis, miserable little man! do 
you think that God will have mercy on you, after so many crimes 
which you have committed.?" "Yes, my father," replied Leo, 
"God, your Saviour, will have mercy on you, and will grant you 
great favors. He will exalt you, and glorify you eternally, be- 
cause he who shall humble himself shall be exalted.* Neverthe- 
less, pardon me for not having said what you desired. It is not I 
who speak, it is God who speaks in me." Finally, Francis bowed 
to what Leo communicated to him, who only disobeyed him by 
an impulse of the Holy Ghost; and they conversed during the re- 
mainder of the night on the great mercy of God to sinners, with 
great consolation. Such persons as have the spirit of God, and 
the love of perfect humility, will find nothing but what is noble 
and great in the simplicity of this colloquy; and it is for such that 
it has appeared to us useful to record it. 

It has been already remarked, with St. Bonaventura, that St. 
Francis had given to his brethren the name of Minors, and to their 
Superiors that of Ministers, in order that their very name should 
cause them to be humble. These are the maxims by which he 
used to impress this upon them : — " The Son of God debased Him- 
self in coming from the bosom of His Father to us, to teach us 
humility by His example and by His word, as our Lord and 
Master." " What is exalted in the eyes of man f is an abomina- 

* Matt, xxiii., 12. 

t This is what our Lord said on the subject of the Pharisees, who drew 
u):)on tlu'inselves the esteem of men by exterior acts of piety, but wliicli (iocl 
had in abliorrence, in consequence of the views with which iliey were filled. 
'] his may rIso be applied to innovators who impose on the mullilude by the 



380 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

tion before God." Man is nothing but what he is before God, 
and is nothing more. It is folly to feel glorified by the applause 
of man ; it is better to be blamed than piaised, for blame induces 
the person to correct himself, while praise leads to his fall. No 
man should pride himself for doing those things which a sinner 
may do as well as he. A sinner may fast, pray, weep, macerate 
his body, but what he cannot do, as long he is a sinner, is to be 
faithful to his God. Now, this is what we may glory in, to render 
to God the glory which is due to Him, to serve Him faithfully, and 
to return with like fidelity all that He has given. Happy the ser- 
vant who finds himself as humble amidst his brethren, inferiors 
Hke himself, as in presence of his superiors ! Happy the servant 
who does not believe himself better when men load him with 
praises, than when he appears in their eyes simple, vile, abject, 
and despicable ! Happy the servant who bears reprimanding with 
meekness, who acknowledges his fault with humility, and volun- 
tarily punishes it ; who is sufficiently humble to receive a reprimand 
without offering an excuse, and the shame of a fault, of which 
he has not been guilty ! Happy the religious who has not been 
desirous of the elevation he has attained, and who always wishes 
to be at the feet of the others ! Woe to the religious who has been 
raised by the rest to an honorable post, and who has not the 
inclination to descend from it ! 

l^he example of Jesus Christ, who ''was obedient unto death, 
even to the death of the Cross,"* inspired St. Francis with great 
love for obedience. Although he was appointed superior by order 
of God and of the Pope, he was always desirous of obeying rather 
than commanding. In his travels, he promised obedience to him 
who accompanied him, and he rigidly kept that promise. One day 
he communicated the following in confidence to his companions : 
"Among all the graces which I have received from the bounty of 
God, this is one, that, if they were to appoint a novice of an hour's 
standing to be my guardian, I would obey him as implicitly as if 
he was the oldest and the most serious of our brethren." He was 
not satisfied with having renounced being General of the Order, to 

regularity of their exterior, and the severity of their morals, by an air of great 
piety and by large alms ; but God detests their pride, which renders them 
rebels to the Church, and makes them lose their faith. The virtues which are 
noticed in them are not true Christian virtues, worthy of eternal life; 
for these virtues, Saint Augustine says, must be groimded on faith : '^' Without 
faith,' as pure and holy as what was required by Saint Paul, 'it is impossible 
to ] lease God.' Moreover, the loss of faith, which often proceeds from the 
corruption of morals, very often is the cause of their corruption. There is 
scarcely any sect, of w*rich it miy not be said, what Saint John said of Baby- 
lon, that its name is Mysterium : Mystery of iniquity." — S. Aiigustin. contr. 
Julian, lib. iv., n. 24 and 25 ; Ilebr. xi., 6; Tit. i.. ij, ct alibi ; Apoc. xvii.^ 5. 
*riiii. ii., 8. ■ ' ' 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. ^H I 

obey the Vicar-General ; he asked Brother EHas, who filled that 
situation, to give him a guardian, in whose will he should depend 
in all things. Brother Angelo, of Rieti, was given to him, and he 
obeyed him with entire submission. 

The instructions he gave his brethren on the subject of obedience 
contained all the perfection which could be given them : ist. To 
renounce their own will, and to look upon it as the forbidden fruit, 
which our first parents could not eat of without being guilty. 2d. To 
abandon themselves wholly to their superior, so that they shou d 
neither do nor say anything which they know he would not ap- 
prove of; and that they should do what he wishes the moment he 
has spoken, without waiting for his speaking a second time. 3d. Not 
to examine whether what is ordered is difficult or impossible, for, 
said St. Francis, ''When I order anything which is above your 
strength, holy obedience will enable you to effect it." 4th. To sub- 
mit their lights to those of the superior, not with a view of obeying 
him in anything manifestly contrary to salvation, but to act upon 
his views, although they may think their own better and more 
useful. 5th. Not to consider the man, nor his qualifications, in the 
obedience they bow to, but the authority he has, the place he fills, 
and the greatness of Him for whose love they are subject to man. 

This last point is the greatest sacrifice of a religious life ; but a 
necessary sacrifice, one which is just, and worthy of God, and the 
most certain proof that our obedience is grounded on our love for 
Him. It is not difficult to follow the dictates of a superior of 
acknowledged talent and merit ; the hardship is to submit with 
humility, without remonstrance or murmur, to one who has not 
these qualifications. This also it is which enhances in the eyes of 
God the value of religious obedience ; it may then be considered 
as a sort of martyrdom of the mind, which will receive its crown 
in heaven, as well as that of the body. Nevertheless, it is requi- 
site to be cautious, lest antipathy or some other motive, and the 
natural revolt of the human heart against authority, should cause 
a superior to appear contemptible, who really is not so. Finally, 
the religious are highly interested in practising holy obedience, 
whoever may be the superior ; it is, as St. Fiancis remarks, so 
abundant in fruits, that such as bend to the yoke pass not a 
moment of their lives without some spiritual profit : it increases 
virtue, and procures peace to the soul. 

He was asked one day, who was to be considered to be tnilv 
obedient, and he instanced a dead body. '*Take,^' said he, "a 
dead body, and place it where you please ; you will see that it 
shows no repugnance at its removal, it utters no ccMuplaint at its 
situation, nor of dissatisfaction at being left whore it is. If \(vj 
put it in an honorable place, its eyes will remain closed, it will not 
raise them. If you clothe it in j)iirple, it will onl\' h;^ paler than 



382 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

before. That is true obedience ; it asks no reason as to why it is 
put in motion, it is indifferent as to where it is placed, and does 
not require to be moved. If such an one is raised to the dignity 
of superior, he remains equally humble ; the more he is honored, 
the more does he think himself unworthy of it. I have often,'"' 
he said, ''seen a blind man led by a litde dog, and who went 
wherever his guide took him, in good roads and in bad. This is 
another resemblance of one who is perfectly obedient : he should 
shut his eyes, and be blind to the commands of his superior, think 
of nothing but submitting immediately to him, without stopping 
to examine w^hether the thing be difficult or not, only keeping in 
view the authority of him wdio gives the order, and the merit of 
obedience/' 

Disobedience is insupportable ; he considered it as the unfor- 
tunate offspring of pride, which is the source of all evils, and of 
which he had great horror. One day while praying in his cell, and 
meditating between God and his brethren, he saw in spirit one of 
them who refused to perform the penance imposed on him in 
chapter by the Vicar-General, and excusing himself as to the fault 
of which he had been accused. He called his companion, and 
said : "I saw on the shoulders of this insubordinate brother the 
devil, who was wringing his neck, and leading him as by a bridle. 
I prayed for him, and the devil^ abashed, loosed his hold immedi- 
ately. Go to him, and tell him to bend immediately to the yoke 
of obedience." In fact, the brother did submit as soon as he w^as 
told this, and threw himself humbly at the feet of his superior. 

Another, who had erred in some w-ay against obedience, w^as 
brought to Francis, that he might correct him ; but he appeared 
so penitent, that the saint, who liked the humility of repentance, 
felt himself inclined to pardon the fault. Nevertheless, Lest the 
facility of pardon should be abused, and to show w^hat chastise- 
ment disobedience deserved, he ordered his cowl to be taken from 
him, and thrown into the fire. Some minutes after, he desired it 
to be taken out of the fire, and to be returned to him, w^hen it was 
found that the fire had not injured it in the least ; "God having 
shown by this miracle," St. Bonaventura observes, "the power 
He gave to his servant, and how^ agreeable to Him humble 
repentance is." 

The conduct of the holy founder w^as more severe to one 
of his brethren, who was obstinately disobedient. After having 
caused him to be stripped, he desired the others to put him into a 
pit, and to fill it up with earth, in order to bury him alive ; when 
they had filled it up to his chin, "Brother," he said, "are you 
dead.^" The religious, absorbed in grief, replied : "Yes, father, 
and I ought to die in reality for my sin." Francis, moved by 
compassion, had him dug out, saying : "Come forth from^ thence, 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 3 (S3 

ii you are truly dead, as a good religious ought to be, to the world 
and its concupiscences. Obey the smallest sign of the will of your 
superiors, and make no more resistance to their orders than a dead 
body could do. 1 wish for followers, not living, but those who 
are dead."" 

It was only a feint to frighten him ; but it served to show that 
disobedience in religion, particularly when it is accompanied by 
obstinacy, must be severely punished. In fact, obedience is the 
basis of the religious state ; and if this virtue be shaken, the fabric 
must tremble and be destroyed. For this reason St. Benedict* 
directed that a religious who persevered in disobedience, should 
be excommunicated, and receive corporal punishment. Nor must 
we be surprised at this, since in the Old Law f God commanded 
that an incorrigible son should be stoned on the complaint of the 
father or mother, J in order that all Israel, after such an example, 
should be awed with fear. We find, in the life of St. Francis, 
many examples of severe penances inflicted by him for disobedi- 
ence : such as sending Brother Ruffinus to preach without a cowl, 
for having excused himself from going on account of his want 
of genius for that employment. 

He once called Brother Juniper to employ him on something, 
and this brother not having immediately obeyed, because he was 
busy in planting a juniper tree, he cursed the tree that it should 
never grow, and it remained ahvays in a dwarf state. The Fathers 
of the Desert were similarly exact in their attention to obedience, 
insomuch as to leave a letter unfinished when they had to attend 
to the orders of a superior. § 

The virtues of St. Francis, which we have recorded, and those 
which we have yet to narrate, were cultivated by the exercise of 
prayer. He had the gifts as soon as he w^as called to the service of 
God, and he followed it up so faithfully, that he consecrated to it 
his heart, his body, all his actions, and all his time. In-doors, 
or out of doors, walking or seated, working or resting, his mind 
was always raised to heaven ; he seemed to live with the angels. 
A.S he was always diffident of himself, he had recourse to prayer, 
and consulted the Almighty, with perfect confidence in His good- 

* Reg. S. Bened., cap. 23. t Dent, xxi., 18, et seq. 

I On this passai^e, M. de Sacy says, that *' it was a figure of the inflexible 
justice which God will exert against all the sons of the Church, whom 
neither the ]>rudent remonstrances of this affectionate mother, ncM- the warn- 
ings of him (the Pope) whom He desires that we should consider as oiir 
father, have l)een able to convert. These two formidable witnesses will 
combine against them at the judgment-seat, and they will be eternally 
punished for their revolt." This is the dreadful decree pronounceil by one 
on whom no suspicion can rest in this respect. Why do they not submit to 
ihe Pope and to the Church, not to expose themselves to this rigor ? 

ji Cassinn. de Tnstit. Roniint.. cap. \ii. 



384 S. FRANCIS OK ASSISI. 

ness, m all that He had to do. Although he could pray in any 
place he might happen to be in, nevertheless, he found solitaiy 
spots best adapted for recollection ; he sought them out, and often 
retired to them. I'his shows us why he made so many houses of 
his Order, where there had previously been hermitages only. 

Careful in attending to the interior calls of the Holy Spirit, if he 
perceived one coming on, he let his companions go forward, and 
stopped, not to receive it in vain, and to enjoy it to its full extent. 
When he prayed in community, he avoided all exterior signs, 
which might discover the secret dispositions of his mind, because 
lie loved secrecy. He did not find the precaution difficult, because 
he was wholly absorbed in his interior, and united himself so inti- 
mately to God, that he was almost without exterior motion. If 
it happened that he was surprised by a visit from heaven in the 
presence of his brethren, he had always something ready to pro- 
pose to them, to take off their attention. When he returned from 
prayer, in which he had been marvellously transformed, he strove 
to conform himself to his brethren, lest what they might perceive 
might draw from them applause, which would deprive him of his 
reward by inspiring him with vanity. 

But in the solitudes he was under no restraint, and gave his 
neart entire liberty. The woods resounded with his sacred sighs 
and laments, the earth was moistened with his tears, and he struck 
his breast with violence. Sometimes he addressed himself to 
God as to his sovereign Lord ; sometimes he spoke to Him as to 
his judge; sometimes he prayed to Him as to his father; and 
at other times, he conversed with Him as a friend converses with 
his friend. He solicited the pardon of sinners with loud and 
energetic exclamations ; and he expressed his horror at the Pas- 
sion of Jesus Christ in loud laments, as if he had been present 
at it. All this was seen and heard by some one or other of his 
companions, who had the pardonable curiosity to w^atch his 
proceedings. The devils tormented him severely during his 
prayers, and that in a very sensible manner, as St. Bonaventura 
informs us ; but, protected by celestial aid, he continued his prayers 
with additional fervor, in proportion to the efforts they made to 
distract him. 

God favored him with the gift of contemplation in a sublime 
degree. His companions bear witness that they have often seen 
him in a state of ecstasy, in which he had lost all the use of his 
senses, and in which all the powers of his soul were suspended. 
Once they saw him, during the night, raised from the ground, and 
his arms extended in the shape of a cross, surrounded by a lumi- 
nous cloud, as if to betoken the divine light which filled his mind. 
St. Bonaventura says that they had efficient proof that God at such 
times revealed to Him some of the great secrets of His wisdom ; 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 365 

but His faithful servant only made such parts of them known as 
were for the glory of his Master, or the utility of his neighbor. 

One of his brethren, not finding him one evening in his cell, 
went to look for him in the wood. Having penetrated a short 
distance into it, he heard him praying, with loud cries, for the salva- 
tion of men, and addressing the Blessed Virgin with moving sighs, 
humbly imploring her to show him her Son. He then saw the 
blessed Mother of God descend from heaven, with great splendor, 
and place her Son into the arms of Francis, who received Him as 
Simeon had received Him in the temple of Jerusalem,* with the 
profoundest respect ; he caressed the Infant most tenderly, en- 
treating Him for the conversion of sinners, and the salvation of 
the world. At this sight the religious fell on the ground, half dead, 
and remained on the spot where he fell. Here the saint found 
him, as he was returning to the convent for Matins ; he brought 
him to himself from this fainting, but strictly forbade him from 
telling any one what had occurred ; but he, thinking it for the 
glory of God not to be obliged to obey in this instance, communi- 
cated the marvel to all the others. 

A novice whom the holy patriarch had received, and whom he 
was taking to the convent of the novitiate, wished to know what he 
did during the night. In order to succeed, he tied his cord to that 
of the father, whom he saw asleep in the fields, in wdiich they had 
been obliged to remain, and laid himself dowm near him, in order 
that he might be roused as soon as he should stir. A few hours 
afterwards, Francis wished to get up, but finding himself fastened 
by the cord, he untied the knot, and went to pray under some 
neighboring trees. The novice, not finding him when he awoke, 
went~to seek him under the trees. A celestial light caused him to 
draw near a spot, where he stopped, and from whence he saw Jesus 
Christ, surrounded by angels, His Blessed Mother, and St. John 
Baptist, who were in conversation with him. His astonishment 
made him fall on the ground, where he remained till Francis, to 
whom God had imparted the circumstance, came and raised him 
up, and restored him to his senses, forbidding him to speak of 
the vision. I'he young man, who continued to live very holily, 
kept the secret ; but, after Francis's death, he published what he 
had seen. 

God chose that his servant should be respected in the secret 
retirements to which he went to pray, and that he should not be 
disturbed at those times. The Bishop of Assisi knew this by his 
own experience. One day, when he had come to the convent of 
i oitiuncuki, as he frequently did, he wished to go at once into 
the cell where the saint was at prayer; but scarcely had he seen 



* Luke ii.. 28. 
17 



386 S. FKANCLS Of ASSISI. 

him in that attitude, when he was pushed back by an invisible 
hand, his body became stiff, and he was unable to speak. Much 
astonished at this accident, he made his way back, as well as he 
could, to the other brethren ; God restored his voice, and he made 
use of it, to acknowledge that he had committed a fault. The 
Celestial Spouse, in the Canticles, conjures the daughters of Jeru- 
salem, ''not to awaken her whom he loves, and not to disturb her 
repose until she awakes of her own accord. " * St. Bernard, on this, 
says that such as are given to prayer should not be troubled about 
useless affairs, and that those who disturb them w^hen they are 
conversing with God, become enemies of heaven.")* 

In consequence of the knowledge which Francis had of the 
sweets and fruits of mental prayer, he constantly urged his breth- 
ren to practise it, and they profited so fully by his instructions, 
that most of them became spiritual and contemplative men. 
'*A religious,'' he said, ''must principally desire to acquire the 
spirit of prayer. I believe that, without that, peculiar favors 
cannot be obtained from God, nor any great progress made in 
His service. When one is sorrowful and uneasy, he should have 
immediate recourse to prayer, and remain before his heavenly 
Father, until such time as the joy of salvation is restored to him. 
If one remains in this state of depression and disturbance, this 
disposition, which comes from Babylon, will increase, and produce 
rust, unless it be purified by tears." 

He taught them to shun the tumult of the world, and to seek 
for solitary places in which to pray, because he knew that the 
Holy Ghost 'communicates Himself more intimately to souls in 
such places ; but he recommended them to be perfectly secret as 
to the favors they might receive ; his maxim being, that a slender 
human communication often causes the loss of that which is of 
inestimable value, and has the effect of preventing the Lord from 
again communicating what He had previously given ; that when 
one is visited by God, he should say : "It is Thou, O Lord ! who 
hast sent me this consolation from heaven, — to me w^ho am a 
sinner, wholly unworthy of Thy bounty. I commit it back to 
Thy keeping ; for I feel myself capable of stealing Thy treasure 
from Thee : ^' and when he returns from prayer, he should show 
as much humility and self-contempt as if he had received no 
peculiar favor. 

All the masters of spiritual life have had similar opinions of the 
value of mental prayer as this contemplative saint, and they have 
pointed out the necessity of it for advancing in the ways of virtue. 
St. Teresa wrote so sublimely on this practice, that the Church prays 
to God that ' ' her heavenly doctrine may be our nourishment. " She 

^ Cant, ii., 7, and iii., 5. f S. Bern., in Cant., serm,lii., n.6. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 387 

declares that she was near being lost, from having given it up, but 
that our Lord had done her the signal favor to urge her to resume 
it ; she exhorts all to apply themselves to it, even should they make 
but small progress in it, because it is always useful, and, if per- 
severed in, will be attended with great benefit. This is what 
directors might represent to those who seriously wish to attend to 
their salvation, and to say to them, with the same saint, that 
*' mental prayer is nothing else but holding friendly intercourse 
with God, often remaining alone in conversation with Him, who 
we know loves us/' 

The practice of mental prayer no way diminished the zeal of 
St. Francis for vocal prayer,* which every Christian ought to resort 
to as he did. Vocal prayer was practised and taught f by Jesus 
Christ ; the Church employs it in her public worship. ' ' We require 
it," says St. Austin, J '' to assist our memory and understanding, 
and to animate our fervor ; finally, God desires that we should 
offer to Him ''a sacrifice of praise," and that it shall be ''the 
fruits of our lips and hearts, giving glory to His name," § because 
our body and soul belong to Him. Piety had inspired the holy 
man to compose vocal prayers on various subjects, which he often 
repeated, and some of which he recited daily. He said the Lord^s 
Prayer, with particular devotion, weighing all the words, and medi- 
tating on the sense they contain, as is seen by the paraphrase of 
it he composed, and which we think it useful to insert at length. 

'''Our Father,' most happy and most holy, our Creator, our 
Redeemer, and our Consoler. ' Who art in heaven ; ' in the angels, 
in the saints, in the illuminated, in order that they may know Thee, 
who infiamest them by Thy love ; for, O Lord ! Thou art the light 
and the love who dwellest in them, and who art their beatitude by 
satiating them: Thou art the sovereign and eternal good, from 
whom all good proceeds, and without Thee there is no other good. 
' Hallowed be Thy name : ' in order to that, make Thyself known 
to us by vivid lights, so that we may see the full extent of Thy 
bounty, the duration of Thy promises, the sublimity of thy 
majesty, and the depth of Thy judgment. ' Thy kingdom come : ' 
in order that Thou mayest reign in us by grace, and that Thou 
mayest bring us to Thy kingdom, where Thou art clearly and per- 
fectly loved, where we become happy in Thy society, and where 

* J. Alvarez de Paz, of the Society of Jesus, speaks highly of vocal prayer, 
before his treatise on mental prayer. — De Studio Orationis, torn. iii. Oper. 

t Our Lord addressed vocal prayer to God, His Father, after tlie Supper, 
John, vii., I. And he taught vocal prayer to His apostles, when He said to 
them: ''You shall therefore pray in this manner; Our Father who art in 
Heaven," etc. — Matt, vi., 9. 

I S. Aug. epist. ad Probam, xiii., alias cxxi., cap. ix., et de Serm. Dom. in 
monte, lib. ii., cap. 3. 

^ Ilebr. xiii,, 15. 



3^5 S. FRANCIS OK ASSISI. 

Thou art eternally enjoyed. ' Thy will be done on earth as it is 
in heaven:' in order that we may love Thee 'with our w^hole 
hearts,' thinking always of Thee 'with our w^hole soul/ ever long- 
ing for Thee, * with all our mind/ referring to Thee all our views, 
seeking Thy glory in all things : ' with all our strength/ employ- 
ing in Thy service, for Thy love, all the strength of our bodies and 
souls, without making any other use of them ; that we may love 
our neighbor as ourselves, using all our efforts to draw them to 
Thy love ; rejoicing in all the good that happens to them, as if it 
was our own ; being grieved at any ills which may befall them, and 
giving offence to none. 'Give us this day our daily bread : ' it is 
Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ ; we ask Thee for Him, in order to 
remind us of the love He has show^n us, and of what He has said, 
done, and endured for us ; we ask Thee to make us fully com- 
prehend these things, and cause us to revere them. 'Forgive us 
our trespasses,' by Thy infinite mercy, by the passion of Thy be- 
loved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, by the merits and intercession of 
the Blessed ]\Iar}^, and of all the elect ' As we forgive them that 
trespass against us : ' what may be not altogether remitted on our 
part, grant us the favor, O Lord ! to remit entirely, in order that, 
for love of Thee, we may sincerely love our enemies, and may inter- 
cede for them fers^ently at Thy throne ; that we may not render to 
any one evil for evil, and that in Thee we may endeavor to do good 
to all. 'And lead us not into temptation,' "*" hidden, manifest, 
sudden, grievous. ' But deliver us from evil : ' past, present, and 
to come. Amen : willingly and gratuitously." These two words 
show that he ardently desired what he prayed for ; and that it was 
purely for the gloiy of God, without any temporal interest. 

He recited the Divine Offices with a devotion full of respect, 
and with great fer\or. St. Bonaventura says that, although he 
suffered greatly from pains in his head, from his stomach, and from 
his liver, he never leant while reciting it ; that he stood during the 
whole time, with his head uncovered, his eyes looking down. 
]n travelling, he always stopped to say it ; however much it might 
rain, he never omitted this pious practice, and he gave this reason 
lor it : If the body rests, in order to take its food, which will, as 
well as himself, soon become the food of worms, with how much 

* That is to say, permit us not to be led into temptation, and inclined to 
sin, for, as Saint James says, *' God is not capable of tempting to evil." And 
Mhen He allows the devil so to tempt us, it is not with a view of our yielding, 
as Zuinglius, Calvin, and Beza have dared to say ; on the contrary, it is to give 
us the opportunity of conquering and meriting by His grace. Now^, although 
it be true that God, by an effect of His wisdom and goodness, permits tempta- 
tions for the benefit of mankind, He, nevertheless, teaches them to mistrust 
Ihtir own weakness, to solicit His favor not to be exposed to temptations, 
and, should they arise, His grace to get the better of them. — S.August, epist 
130, cap. xi.. et de Dono Persever. , cap. 5. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 389 

tranquillity ought the soul to take its spiritual nourishment, which 
is to cause it to live eternally ! 

The verse, Gloria Patri, etc., made a lively impression on his 
heart ; once he repeated it in thankfulness to God for His bounty 
after each verse of the Magnificat, which Brother Leo was reciting, 
and he exhorts all to say it frequently. A lay brother, who was 
strongly tempted to apply himself to study, having come to ask 
his permission, " My dear Brother," said he, ''learn the Gloria 
Patri, etc., and you will know the whole of the Holy Scriptures.'' 
The brother obeyed, and had no further temptation on that head. 

The distractions which his lively imagination caused him during 
the holy exercises, appeared to him to be great faults, and he 
never failed to confess them, and to expiate them by penance, 
asserting that we ought to be ashamed of being distracted by trifles 
w^hen speaking to the great King. Once during Tierce, the thought 
of a little vase which he had made came into his head, and called 
off his attention ; he immediately went and took it, and threw it 
into the fire, saying : '' I will sacrifice it to the Lord, whose sacrifice 
it has hindered." But he acquired the habit of reciting the Office 
so attentively, that this sort of distractions seldom importuned him. 

His application was equally strong and respectful in reciting the 
Psalms, as if God had been present in a sensible manner ; and he 
found so much sweetness in the name of God, that he seemed to 
have the taste of sweetness on his lips, after having pronounced it. 
Thus the prophet said to the Lord : " How sweet are thy w^ords 
to my palate ! more than honey to my mouth." * Francis had also 
an interior joy in pronouncing the holy name of Jesus, which 
communicated itself to his exterior, and produced on his senses a 
similar effect as if he had 'tasted something agreeable to his palate, 
or heard some harmonious sounds. 

He desired that these sacred names should be peculiarly rever- 
enced, not only when people thought of them, or pronounced 
them, but whenever they saw them written. This is the reason 
why, in his last will, he recommends his brethren to pick them up 
should they find them scattered about in unseemly places, and 
put them in a better locaHty, lest they should be disrespectfully 
trampled upon. This must be considered not as a mere nicety 
of feeling, but as a sentiment ins|)ircd by faith, which teaches us 
to venerate the word of God. If a great bishop If has thought it 
proper to compare the abuse of the sacred word, when it is 
announced, to the profanation of the body itself of Jesus Christ, 
may we not, in the same spirit, say that he who permits that word 
to be trampled upon when it is written, becomes in some measure 

* Psalm cxviii., 103. 

t Serm. ccc, n. 2, in Append, torn, v., Oper. 2. Aug. edit. Hen. Tribuitur. S. 
Ca-s, All). t'}»i>c. 



390 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

as guilty as if he had allowed the sacred body of our Saviour to 
be treated with similar indignity? 

It was the love of God which gave St. PVancis so much zeal 
for mental prayer, as well as for that which is vocal. He sought 
his Beloved, from whom he was only separated by the wall of his 
flesh. To be present to Him in spirit, and to contemplate Him, 
were his sole consolations, and his anxiety to gain these was 
intense. But then the frequent exercise of prayer increased his 
love, and inflamed it to that degree, that St. Bonaventura does 
not think it possible to find words to express it. This divine 
charity penetrated his whole interior, as fire penetrates a burning 
coal. Only by hearing the term of the love of God pronounced, 
he was moved and inflamed, and this movement made the aflfec- 
tions of his soul thrill, as the strings of a musical instrument sound 
on being touched. 

To excite himself more and more to the love of God, he made 
use of all creatures, as of so many mirrors, in which he viewed the 
supreme reason, the sovereign beauty, and the principle of being 
and of life. They were for him as so many steps by which he 
raised and united himself to the object of his love, as so many 
streamlets in which he tasted, with inconceivable unction, the 
infinite purity of the source from whence all that is good is 
derived ; so many delightful strains whose harmony resounded on 
his eais, and which, as David in his Psalms,* he invited to praise 
and glorify Him who had given ihem their tones. Wholly in- 
flamed with love, he prayed to be enabled to love still more, and 
he addressed the following prayer to God, which is found among 
his works : '* Grant, O Lord ! that the mild vehemence of Thy 
ardent love may separate me from ever^^thing which is under 
heaven, and may consume me entirely, in order that I may die 
for the love of Thy love, since it was for the love of my love that 
Thou didst deign to die. I solicit this through Thyself, O Son 
of God ! who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy 
Ghost for ever and ever. Amen." 

And here is another, which he used to say every day : ** My God 
and my all, who ait Thou, O sweet Lord ! and who am I, Thy 
servant, a miserable worm } I wish to love Thee, most holy Lord, 
I wish to love Thee. O God ! I have consecrated to Thee my 
heart and my body. If I had the means of doing more for Thee, 
1 would do it, and I ardently wish I had the means.'' 

This poor evangelical could not give more to God than his 
body and soul. He continually off^ered the sacrifice of his body, 
by the rigor of his fasts, and that of his soul, by the vehemence of 
his desires ; ''by which,'' says St. Bonaventura, *' he conformed in 

* Psalm cxli. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISL 39 1 

a spiritual manner to the practice of the Old Law, which was to 
offer holocausts out of the tabernacle, and to burn incense 
within it." * 

The sacrifice of his desires went to a great extent. For the 
love of God he had renounced all the things of this earth ; he had 
stripped himself of everything, so that he was literally naked ; he 
had embraced the severest poverty, and practised the most austere 
penitential life ; he had devoted himself to the ministry of 
preaching, and to the establishment of his Order ; his life was but 
a course of labors and fatigue, but he reckoned all that as noth- 
ing ; he wished to do much more, to mortify himself more 
rigorously, to forward thereby the glory of God, because, accord- 
ing to the words of our Saviour, this is the greatest mark of love 
which a friend can give to his friend, f This was the motive of the 
ardent desire he had to endure martyrdom, and of the three 
voyages he undertook in search of it : seeing that he could not 
succeed, he lowered his views to wishing for and soliciting grace to 
know what he could do, to testify his love for God. The Lord 
granted his desire, favoring him with the impression of His five 
wounds, which rendered him a living and, at the same time, an 
expiring martyr; but it inflamed his heart to such a degree, that 
then he wished to die for love, and to be absorbed in the love of 
Him whom he loved, saying in a holy transport, in one of his 
canticles: "Per amor si clamo. Amor che tanto bramo, fa mi 
morir d'amore. Amor, amor, fa mi in te transire." 

Inflamed with divine love, he endeavored to spread the fire on 
all sides. He often made it the subject of his discourses, and it 
was usually the motive he employed to animate his brethren to 
the practice of virtue. When he proposed anything that was diffi- 
cult to them, such as to go about soliciting alms, " Go," he would 
say, ''and ask it for the love of God." He found a noble prodi- 
gality in asking it for that motive, and he thought those demented 
who preferred money to the love of God, the price of which is in- 
calculable, and sufficient to purchase the kingdom of heaven, and 
which the love of Him who has so loved us must make infinitely 
dear to us. They were surprised one day to find that he could 
bear the severity of winter in so miserable a habit as that which he 
wore, and, full of fervor, he gave this reason, which contains a very 
useful lesson : "If we were inwardly inflamed with a longing for 
our celestial country, we should easily bear exterior cold."" It was 
his wish that a Friar Minor should love God with an eff'ective, 
liberal, and generous love, which should enable him to suffer 
calmly and joyfully pain and opprobrium for the object of his love. 
This is what he said one day to Brother Leo, on the subject, in a 

* Exod. XXX., 5; and xl., 27. f T,)lin xv., 1^,. 



392 S. FRAN'CIS OK ASSISI. 

conversation which Leo himself has recorded at full length : ''If 
a Friar Minor had a clear and distinct knowledge of the course of 
the stars, and of all other things in the universe ; if he possessed 
all the sciences, all the languages, and a perfect knowledge of the 
Holy Scriptures ; and if he spoke with the tongues of angels, cast 
out devils, performed all sorts of miracles, even that of raising one 
from the dead who had been four days in the tomb ; if he had the 
gift of prophecy, and that of discerning the affections of the heart ; 
if he preached to the infidels Avith such success as to convert them 
all, and if he should edify the world by his sanctity, all that would 
not be to him the subject of perfect and true joy." 

Afterw^ards, to show in what this true joy consisted, he proposed 
a supposition, similar to one he had made on another subject, and 
very like to this hypothesis of St. Paul : ' ' Who shall separate us 
from the love of Jesus Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or 
famine, or nakedness, or persecution, or the sword ? '' * From 
w^hich he concluded, that all that there is in heaven or on earth 
could not separate him from the love of God, which is grounded 
on Jesus Christ our Lord. 

' ' I suppose, " said St. Francis, ' ' that we were to arrive at the 
convent of St. Mary of the Angels very wet, covered with mud, 
perishing with cold, dying of hunger, and that the porter, instead 
of letting us in, were to leave us at the gate in this pitiable state, 
sayins^ angrily, ' You are a couple of idle vagabonds, who stroll 
about the w'orld, and receive the alms which the real poor ought 
to get.' If w^e bear this treatment with patience, without being 
discomposed, and without murmuring ; if even we think humbly 
and charitably that the porter knows us well for what we are, and 
that it is by God's leave that he behaves thus to us, mark this 
down as perfect joy. 

^'I suppose, moreover, that we continue to knock at the door, 
and that the porter, considering us importunate, should come out 
and give us some severe boxes on the ears, and say, 'Get along, 
scoundrels, go to the hospital, there is nothing for you to eat 
here.' If we bear all these things patiently, and we pardon him 
from our hearts, and with charity, note, this would be a subject 
for perfect joy. 

"Let us, in fine, suppose, that in this extremity the cold, 
hunger, and the night, compel us to entreat, with tears and cries, 
to be allowed to enter the convent, and that the porter, in great 
irritation, darts out with a stick full of knobs, takes us by the 
cowl, throws us dow^n in the snow, and beats us till we are quite 
covered with bruises : — if we bear all this ill usage with joy, with 
the thought that we ought to participate in the sufferings of our 



* Rom. viii., 35. 3S. 39. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



393 



blessed Saviour Jesus Christ, note this, and note it carefully, that 
this is, for a Friar Minor, the subject of a true and perfect joy. 

•'Now hear the conclusion of all this. Amongst all the gifts 
of the Holy Ghost, which Jesus Christ has granted and will grant 
to His servants, the most considerable is, that of conquering 
one's self, and of suffering pain and opprobrium for the love of 
God, in order to respond to the love He has for us. In all the 
miraculous gifts w^hich I have noticed, there is not one from 
which we may derive so much glory ; we have no share in it, it is all 
from God ; we only receive what He gives us, and, as St. Paul 
says, ' If thou hast received, why dost thou glory, as if thou 
hadst not received it .^ ' * But we have our share in the tribula- 
tions which we suffer for the love of God, and we may make it a 
subject of glor}^, as the same apostle has said : ' God forbid that 
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ' '''j* 

St. Francis was far from thinking that we may glory in our 
suffeiings, as of a favor which we have not received, since he 
acknowledges that it is the greatest gift of the Holy Ghost, 
conformably to what St. Paul said to the Philippians : ''To you 
is given not only to believe in Jesus Christ, but also to suffer for 
His sake ; " | and to what is written of the apostles : "And they, 
indeed, went from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they 
were accounted to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus.*' § He 
only proposed to say that our sole cause of glory is, that God 
permits us to be associated to the cross of Jesus Christ, in which 
alone we are glorified. Thus it is to God that he refers all the 
glory of our sufferings, which indeed is His, since, without the 
aid of His grace, we should not suffer as we ought, and without 
the cross of Jesus Christ we should have no merit. But he cor- 
rectly says, and he speaks the true orthodox faith, when he adds, 
that we have a share in the merit of what we suffer, and when he 
draws the distinction between that and miraculous gifts. St. 
Chrysostom has spoken in the same manner, and says that our 
virtues are in so far the gifts of God, that they are also merits of 
our will, for which God has been pleased to render Himself 
indebted to us, by the promise He has made to reward them. || 

May the tender and generous love of St. Francis, which we 
have endeavored to portray, excite all those who shall read his 
life to love (jod, and to manifest their love, not only by theii actions, 
but by their patience in adversities! May they love Him, so as 
to be enabled to say, with the same saint : " May the mild violence, 
O. Lord ! of Thy ardent love, separate me from all that is beneath 
the heavens, and wholly absorb me ! " And with St. Austin : '' O 



I Cor. iv., 7. t Gal. iv., 14. t Pliil. i-, 29. J Acts v., 41. 

S. ("liry. Jloniil. .\, in caj). i.. I'.plst. ad IMiilip.. ver. 29. 



394 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 



my God ! I love Thee with an ardent love. If I do not as yet love 
Thee enough, compel me to love Thee still more. O love, which 
ever burns without ever being extinguished ! My God, who art 
nothing but charity, inflame me ! '' * Jesus Christ, in speaking of 
His love, t said : ''I am come to send fire on the earth, | and 
what will I but that it be kindled ? '" The holy Catholic Church, 
our mother, uses all her efforts to kindle it in the hearts of her 
children ; she never ceases repeating to them that the greatest 
commandment of the Christian religion § is the first, and this is it : 
*'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with 
thy whole soul, with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.'' She 
sets before them every argument which may induce them to its 
perfect obsers^ance ; and when she represents to them the severity 
of God's judgments, the rigor of the pains of hell, it is to lead 
them to this love, through fear, as God Himself does, which St. 
Augustine declares in the following terms: '*Lord, Thou com- 
mandest me to love Thee, and, if I fail to do so, Thy wrath is 
enkindled against me, and Thou threatenest me with frightful 
misery, as if it were not one sufficiently great not to love Thee.'*' || 
After this, who will not feel the greatest indignation against those 
who, by the blackest of all calumnies, have dared to say, and to 
put in writing, that the Head of the Church and the body of bishops 
had abolished the grand precept of the love of God, and have 
given to their own sect the glory of maintaining it } The Lord 
said to the sinner by His prophet: *'Why dost thou declare my 
justices, and take my covenant in thy mouth .^"'^ A similar 
reproach may be made to this sort of sinner, who, according to the 
oracle ** of the Son of God, are already condemned, because they 
do not believe : ''Why speakest thou of the love of God, thou who 
hast it not, and cannot have it, because thy rebellion against the 
legitimate authority established by Jesus Christ, has caused thee to 
lose thy faith, without which that divine love cannot be entertained, 
that supernatural and divine charity, 'which is spread over our 
hearts by the Holy Ghost.' " ft Listen to the Church, submit with 
humble docility to her decisions, and you will learn from herself 
what your conscience has already made known to you, that she 
teaches her children to have a pure faith, a wholesome faith, which^ 
has nothing false in it, which is firm and immovable, and is at 

* S. Aug. Confess, lib. 13, cap. viii., and lib. 10, cap. xxix. 

t Although these -words are usually understood as of the fire of divine 
love, some interpreters think that they signify the fire of the persecutions 
which were to be enkindled at the pubhcation of the Gospel. If that be so, 
it may be said that one fire communicated itself to the other ; for it was re- 
quisite to have an ardent love of God, to be able to endure the persecution. 

X Luke xii.. 49. $ Matt, xxii., 38 ; Deut. vi., 5 ; Luke x., 27. 

II S. Aug. Confess, lib. I, cap. v. H Psalm xlix., 17. ** John iii., 18. 

ft Rom. v., 5 ; Tit. i., 13 ; i Tim. i., 5 ; Coloss. i.. 23 ; Gal. v., '6. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 395 

the same time a faith acting and perfected by charity. This is the 
reason she so often lays before them the example of the saints, who 
had an inviolable attachment to that faith, and who were inflamed 
with the love of God, as St. Francis was. 

The mystery of the Incarnate Word, ''that great mystery of piety, 
which has been manifested in the flesh,''* produced in his heart 
sentiments so pious and so tender, that they were observable ex- 
teriorly, by actions of extraordinary fervor, as we saw in the grand 
solemnity which he celebrated at Grecia on Christmas night. 
''Consider," he says, in his letters, "that the most high Father 
has sent from heaven His archangel, St. Gabriel, to announce that 
His most worthy, holy, and glorious Word should descend into 
the womb of the most Blessed Virgin Mary. And, in truth, He 
did so descend, and took from her true human flesh, passible and 
mortal, such as ours is : ' Being rich. He became of His own ac- 
cord poor/ f He chose, by preference, poverty in this world for 
Himself and for His Blessed Mother. He gave Himself thus to 
us, in conformity to the will of His Father, to wipe away our sins 
on the cross, by the sacrifice of His Blood, and to leave an example 
for us to follow in His traces, | for it is His wish § that we should 
all be saved through Him ; but there are few who desire the sal- 
vation He proffers them, although His yoke is sweet, and His 
burden light." || 

When he spoke of the incarnation and birth of the Son of God, 
it was with affectionate devotion ; he could not hear the words, 
"the Word made flesh," without manifesting great joy. The 
religious of a monastery where he was one day, remarked this 

* 2 Tim. iii., 16. t 2 Cor. viii., 9. t I Pet. ii., 21. 

^ Saint Francis, who was truly Catholic, expresses himself on dogmatical 
points with all the precision of the language of the Church. He says that 
Jesus Christ desires that we should all be saved through Him ; Saint Paul 
also declares that '' He will have all men to be saved, and to come to the 
knowledge of the truth." — I Tim. ii., 4. — This is what is noticed in many 
other parts of the New Testament, and what all the holy fathers, whether 
Cireek or Latin, have constantly taught. *'God,'' says S, Augustine, ** desires 
that all men shall be saved ; not so, however, that they shall be deprived of 
free-will : it is on the good or ill use they make of this that God most justlv 
punishes or rewards them." — Lib. de Spir. et litt. cap. xxxiii. — Finallv, every 
Catholic is bound to believe the three following truths which are defined bv 
the Church: 1st. That God desires that he should be saved, and tliat Jesus 
Christ has shed all His blood for this object. 2dly. That as this, His desire, 
is sincere, He consequently gives him the graces necessary for his salvation. 
3dly. That He is not the first to abandon those who have been once justified 
by His grace. This is a powerful motive to induce us to labor with conti- 
dence for our salvation; and altogether, with fear and trembling, to have 
recourse to prayer, because we may be the first to abandon God, in which case 
He may cast us off, and damn us eternally. — Concil. Arausic. secunduin cap. 
.\xv.. Cojist. Tnnoccniii 10, a<lv. Lil). Jansenii. Concil. 'I'rid., sess. 6, cap, \.\i. 

II M.iti. M., v>. 



396 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

emotion, and took occasion to ask him if it was right to eat meat 
on Christmas-day, when it fell on a Friday, or if it was not belter to 
abstain from it. " Not only do I think," he replied, " that men 
may eat meat on this day, in which the Word was made flesh, but I 
wish that princes and rich persons would throw meat and corn 
in the highways, in order that the birds anS beasts of the field 
should rejoice, in their way, in the joys of so great a festival ; I 
wish, even, that some was placed on the walls, if they could derive 
sweetness from it.'*' 

We see plainly that these are hyperbolical expressions, flowing 
from his heart, by the emotions of his spiritual joy, by which he 
was actuated; but, in saying that men might eat meat on Christ- 
mas-day, although it fall on a Friday, he speaks in conformity 
with the usage of the Church, which, h(.wever, is a permission, 
and not a law. Pope Honorius III.* pointed it out clearly to 
the Bishop of Prague, in Bohemia, in ihe following rescript of the 
year 1222 : ''We answer that, when |the feast of the Nativity of 
our Blessed Lord falls on a Friday, those who are not under the 
obligation of abstinence by a vow, or by a regular observance, t 
may eat meat on that day, because of the excellence of the festival, 
according to the custom of the universal Church. Those, however, 
who abstain on that day, from devotion, are not to be censured.'' 

St. Francis was, moreover, much affected by the goodness of 
our Saviour, who, after His baptism, went into the desert, and 
there fasted forty days and forty nights, without eating anything 
during that time, for the expiation of our sensuality, and to set us 
an example of fasting.J He honored this holy retreat by a fast of 
forty days, which he commenced on the seventh day of January, 
and which he passed in some solitary place, confined to his cell, 
keeping strict abstinence in fasting and drinking, and employing 
himself solely in praising God and in prayer. It was also during 
this Lent that he received the most signal favors from Jesus Christ. 

His soul was penetrated with ardor for the mystery of the sacred 
body and blood of our Lord. The work of so tender a love, 
and of such condescending goodness, threw him into an excess 
of admiration, and put him quite beside himself He communi- 
cated frequently, and with so much devotion, that it inspired 
others with similar feelings ; they saw him almost always, after 
having communicated, as if in a spiritual intoxication, and raised 
into ecstasy by the sweetness he tasted in partaking of the body 
and blood of the Lamb without spot. At Mass, when at the 

* Decret. lib. iii., tit. 46, cap. Explicari. 

t On this principle, the Friars Minors, who, by their Rule, are obliged to 
fast on all the Fridays of the year, are not exempted from it in those years 
in which Christmas-day falls on a Friday. 

I Matt, iv., I and 2 ; Luke iy., 2. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 397 

Elevation, he said this prayer: ''Celestial Father, my Lord and 
my God, cast Thine eyes on the glorious countenance of Thy 
Christ, and have pity on me and on other sinners, for whom Thy 
beloved Son, our Lord, has condescended to die, and who has 
chosen to remam with us in the sacrament of the altar, for our 
salvation and consolation : who with Thee, eternal Father, and 
the Holy Ghost, sole God, liveth and reigneth to everlasting ages. 
Amen. " 

The profound veneration which is due to the august mystery of 
the Eucharist, the solicitude which we ought to have to hear Ma:s, 
to approach to the sacred altar, and to prepare ourselves, in order 
worthily to communicate, were points on which he used to dilate 
in his conversations, in his instructions, and in his letters. 

As faith in the Real Presence is the principle of the worship 
which is due to Jesus Christ, under the sacred symbols, he sup- 
ported it, arguing with the heretics, who sought to controvert it : 
'' 'O^yesons of men, how long will ye be dull of heart .^^ Why do 
you love vanity, and seek after lying ? ' * Why do you not admit 
the truth, and w^hy do you not believe the Son of God ? He 
Himself assures us. He the Most High, that what is consecrated 
at the altar by the hands of the priest, is His most holy body and 
His most holy blood, since He says : ' This is my body, this is 
my blood of the New Testament. He who eats my flesh, and 
drinks my blood, has eternal life.'f What He has said, that He 
does. Every day, from the height of His throne, he comes to us 
under mean species, as He debased Himself in descending into 
the womb of the Blessed Virgin. Every day J He descends from 
the bosom of His Father, on the altar, into the hands of the 
priest. As He showed Himself to the holy apostles in true flesh, 
so He shows himself to us in the consecrated bread. In seeing 
Him with the eyes of their body, they considered Him with the 
eyes of faith, and believed that He was their Lord and their God. 
We also, in sensibly seeing the species of bread and of wine, 
must firmly believe that it is His most holy body and His most 
holy blood, living and true. In this way He is always with the 
faithful, § according to what He said : 'Behold, 1 am with you 

* Psalm iv., 3. t Matt, xxvi., 26, 28. 

t Mass then was said every clay in Saint Francis's time, which it is neces- 
sary to notice, in conseciuence of the abuse which the heretics have made of 
the letter, which we will give farther on. 

t^ This is one of the meanings in which this passage may be read, for Jesus 
Christ is at all times with the faithful, by His real presence in the mystery 
of the Eucharist, this sacrament being preserved in the Tabernacles, and 
that our Lord is there as long as the elements continue ; as the Council of 
Trent has delinetl, analhemali/.ing all such as shall assert the contrary. — Sess. 
13, can. 4. — lUit the literal sense (if these words. " Uelu)^, 1 am \viih you 
all day--, cwu to the consuniuialion i.f ihc world,*' is tlu" p'omi^c \\ hicli le>us 



398 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

all days, even to the consummation of ages.'* Those who saw our 
blessed Lord in His human nature, and did not believe Him to 
be the Son of God, are condemned ; f and those who see the bread 
and wine, consecrated by a priest, and do not believe it to be truly 
the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, are likewise con- 
demned." J 

We see from this argument that St. Francis knew how to oppose 
heretics, and defend the orthodox truths ; for, what stronger proof 
can there be of the dogma of the Real Presence, than the very words 
which the Son of God made use of at the institution of the mystery 
of the Eucharist.!^ Words which are clear and precise, recorded by 
the Evangelists and by St. Paul, which were susceptible of no 
figurative sense in the circumstances under which they were spoken, 
and which the Church, which is guided by His Spirit, has always 
understood in their proper and natural sense. It is the unanswer- 
able argument, which all the controversialists have employed 
against the sacramentarians, and which is the stronger from the 
futile answers by which it has been met. 

The life of the holy man has furnished many examples of the 

Christ makes, to give to the apostles and their successors all the aid they 
may require for the fulfilment of their ministry, and to be always the invisi- 
ble Head of the Church : which proves its perpetuity. He will continue to 
the end of the world, and it will see all the heretical sects extinguished, one 
after the other. The continual assistance of Jesus Christ renders the Church 
also infallible, in what she proposes to our belief, and in what she rejects. 
Finally, the Church, dispersed over all the earth, has the sam^ infallibility 
as the Church assembled in council, since, without that, it would not be true 
that Jesus Christ, according to His word, would be with her at all times, all 
days, omnibus diebus. These are orthodox truths, to which can only be 
opposed heresies and those crafty evasions which emanate from the spirit of 
error. 

* Matt, xxviii., 20. 

t Those who have died in their incredulity, because it was voluntary and 
criminal. Saint Augustine says that Jesus Christ, by His actions and by 
His words, has always intended to impress upon mankind that He was God 
and man; and it is to this passage in St. John, that he refers, ^^ Non poterant 
credere, ^^ ^^They could not believe," he replies : ^' Quare non poterant, si a 
me qucEratur, cito respondeo, Quia nolebant ; malani quippe eo7'um volunta- 
tern prcEvidii Deus ^^ ^' If I am asked why they could not believe, I reply 
immediately : Because they did not choose to believe, and God had foreseen 
their evil inclinations.'' The same holy doctor says, in speaking of heretics 
in another place: ^^ Mulium errant, quoniam superbi sunt, et non possunt 
discere, quia nolunt credere • " ^' They fall into grievous errors, because they 
are proud, and they cannot learn because they won't believe." The heretics 
of our days are quite like those of old times. John xii., 39 ; S. Aug. Tract. 
28, n. I, and Tract. 53, n> 6, in Joan. De Agon. Christ., cap. xv. 

t Jesus Christ says: '*He who believes not is already condemned." 
What is the condemnation of those of whom St. Paul speaks, who have 
received the faith and professed it, have swerved from it and fallen off, and 
have been wrecked, as regards faith, from the love of novelty, by an obsti- 
nate resistance to the authority of the Church ? — Tim. vi., 10^ 21, and cap. 
i., 19; John iii.. 18. ' . 




S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 395 

ardent and respectful zeal which animated him in all that regarded 
churches or altars, or all the things which were used for the sacri- 
fice of the Mass, and for the divine service. As he could not bear 
anything dirty or slovenly, in the country churches, he took the 
trouble of cleaning ever)^thing himself; and lest they should want 
altar breads for Masses, he made them himself in iron forms, 
which were made in a very workmanlike manner, which he took 
into the poor parishes : some of these moulds are carefully preserved 
in the convent of Grecio. 

The peculiar respect that he had for priests is seen in the expres- 
sions he made use of to manifest it on all occasions, and which 
we have already noticed. We shall only add what he one day said : 
* ' We have been called by the Lord to aid the prelates and clergy 
of the holy Church in the work of faith. For which reason %ye 
are obliged to love them, and to treat them with every possible 
honor. Moreover, the Friars Minors only bear the name of 
Minors, that they may be such in fact, and the most humble of 
men. Besides, from the commencement of my conversion, God 
having inspired the Bishop of Assisi to give me some very sage 
advice, and to encourage me in the service of Jesus Christ, I, for 
that reason, and many others, grounded on the excellence of the 
Episcopal dignity, am determined to love and revere the bishops, 
and to look upon them as my lords ; and not only them, but 
even the poorest of the priests." 

And here is the place to put on record the celebrated letter he 
addressed to the religious of his Order, and particularly to the 
priests. It will show, better than anything else, the profound vener- 
ation he had for the mysteries of the Eucharist. 

**T0 ALL THE REVEREND AND VERY AMIABLE BRETHREN, TO THE 
MINISTF.R-GENERAL OF THE ORDER OF MINORS, HIS LORD AND HIS 
MASTER ; TO ALL THE MINISTERS-GENERAL WHO WILL, AS SUCH, 
SUCCEED HIM ; TO ALL THE PROVINCIALS AND CUSTODES ; TO ALL 
THE PRIESTS OF THIS FRATERNAL CONGREGATION, WHO IMITATE THE 
HUMILITY OF JESUS CHRIST ; AND TO ALL THOSE WHO LIVE IN SIM- 
PLICITY AND OBEDIENCE, THE FIRST AND THE LAST : BROTHER 

FRANCIS, A VILE AND INFIRM MAN, THEIR LITTLE SERVANT, SALUTES 
THEM, IN HIM WHO HAS REDEEMED US, AND HAS WASHED AWAY 
OUR SINS IN HIS BLOOD : * JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD, WHOSE NAME 
IS THE MOST HIGH, SON OF GOD, BLESSED FOR EVER. AMEN. 

**Now listen to me, all you who are my masters, my children, 
and my brethren. What I have to say to you is to open the ears 
of your hearts to the voice of the Son of God, and to obey Him. 
Keep, with all your heart. His commandments, and practise His 

** .\y(K. i., 5, and v.. 9. 



400 S. FRANXIS OF ASSIST. 

counsels in a spirit of perfection, ' Praise Him because He is 
good, and glorify Him by your works/ * The Lord our God pre- 
sents Himself to us, as to His children ; for which reason, my 
brethren, I conjure you all, with all the charity I am master of, 
and kissing your feet, to treat, with all manner of respect and 
honor, the Body and the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, by 
' which we have been reconciled to God the Father Almighty, t and 
peace has been established both on earth and in heaven/ J I also 
entreat, by our Lord, all my brethren who are priests, as well as 
those who aspire to the priesthood, and who will be admitted into 
it, that every time they propose to celebrate Mass, they may do so 
with purity of conscience, and in a pure manner, that they may 
offer the true sacrilice § of the most sacred Body and Blood of 
our Lord Jesus Christ with profound veneration, with holy inten- 
tions, without any interested views, without being led to it by any 
fear of displeasing, or wish to please, any one ; but may all your 
will be solely directed, according to the grace which Almighty God 
will grant you, to that same great God to whorn alone you must 
desire to be pleasing, because it is He alone who || operates in this 
sacrifice as He pleases, according to what He has said : * Do this 
in memor)^ of me. ' ^ Were any one to act otherwise, he becomes 
a traitor and a Judas. 

''My brethren, who are priests, remember that it is written in 
the law of Moses, that, by command of the Lord, the transgressors 
were put to death, although they had only been wanting in exterior 
ceremonies. 'What much more rigorous punishments do you 
not think he deserves who shall have trampled under his feet the 
Son of God ; who shall have treated as an unclean thing the 
blood of the Alliance, by which he has been sanctified, and shall 

* Psalm cxxxv., I; Tob. xiii., 6., t Rom. v., Ii. | Coloss. i.. 20. 

^ These words of Saint Francis, written more than five hundred years ago, 
were an anticipated condemnation of the following error: '*That the Mass 
is only a commemorative and representative sacrifice, a representation only 
of that of the Cross, and a memorial of the immolation of Jesus Christ; 
that J«, sus Christ offers Himself merely in figure ; that it is not on the Real 
Presence that the idea of the Eucharistic Sacrifice is founded; that the 
Anglicans might admit the same sacrifice that we do in the celebration of 
the Eucharist, even in rejecting the dogma of the Real Presence," etc. 

II Although the priests consecrate at Mass, it is nevertheless true that 
Jesus Christ solely operates, because it is only the Almighty power which 
can effect the miracle of the Transubstantiation at the words of the priest, as 
He pledged Himself to do, when He said : '* Do this in memory of me." It 
is one of the proofs of the opinion of the school of Scotus, who maintained 
that the sacraments are the causes, not physical, but moral and instrumental, 
of the grace which they confer, which dies prevent their being the true, 
certain, and infallible cause thereof. This opinion is much adopted by 
Theologians. See Du Hamel, Theol. turn. 6, De Effect. Sacram. ; Toornely 
De Sacram. in genere, quoest. 3. 

IF Luke x.xii., 19. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 4OI 

1 ave thus outraged the spirit of grace ? ' * For, a man who is de- 
filed treats with contempt, and tramples under foot, the law of 
God, since, as the apostle says, he eats unworthily, without dis- 
cerning, this holy bread, which is Jesus Christ, from other meats, 
and mingles it with unearthly actions, f Nevertheless, the Lord 
declares by the mouth of a prophet, ' that he who does the work 
of God negligently or deceitfully, J is accursed. '§ And it is on 
account of the priests, who do not choose to consider these truths 
seriously, that He lets fall on us all the judgments recorded else- 
where : ' I will curse your blessings.' || 

" Listen attentively to vv^hat I say, my brethren. If we venerate, 
as in right we should, the Blessed Virgin Mary, because she bore 
in her holy womb the Son of God ; if St. John Baptist trembled 
in approaching Jesus Christ, and did not dare to touch the crown 
of His head ^ to baptize Him ; if the sepulchre, in which He 
was laid for some time, inspires so much respect : what justice, 
what sanctity, what merit, ought he not to have who touches Him 
with his hands, no longer in a mortal state, but immortal and 
glorious, in such state as ' the angels desire more and more to see 
Him in.'** 

"My brethren, who are priests, consider what is your high 
dignity, and be ye holy, because the Lord is holy-ff Because, in 
confiding this mystery to you. He has honored you above all the 
others, love Him also, respect Him, honor Him in the same 
mystery. IJ When you have Jesus Christ present in so marvellous 
a manner, if there be anything else in the world that occupies 
your thoughts, it must be admitted that it is a great misery, and a 
deplorable weakness. All the world should be in astonishment, 
everyone should tremble, and the heavens should rejoice, when 
Christ, the Son of the living God, is on the altar in the hands of 



*Exod. xii., 15 and 19; Lev. xvii., 14 ; Num. ix., 10. Heb. x., 29. 

1 1 Cor. xi.. 29. 

t The expression of the Vulgate \'?, fraudiilenter, that of the Septuagint is 
negllgentcr : Saint Francis notices them both, wliich shows that he read the 
Scriptures very attentively, and look notice of tlie different versions. He 
means to say that whoever communicates unworthily is a deceiver and a cheat, 
who insults Jesus Christ, while affecting to love Him, as Judas who betrayed 
Him with a kiss: '* Osciilo Jiliuni hofniiiis iradis ? " Luke xxii., 48. 

% Jerem. xlviii.. 10. || Malach. ii., 2. 

1[ Saint Bernard says likewise of St. John Bai)tist, wh.o baptized our Saviour, 
plunged in the water, holding his hand on His head: ^^Frcniit ille : quid 
tninim si frcniit hofno, 7icc audct attingere sanctnni Dclverticctn, caput ador- 
andiun Ajigelis, rcvereudiwi Potcstatihiis, trcniciiduni Principalibus?^^ Serm. 
I, in I^')iphan., n. 6. 

T I'etcr i. 12. ft Levit. xi..44. 

XX Wc 'iw^kX similar thoughts in the books on the Priesthood, and in many of 
S. Chrysostom's homilies. He may have read these works, and he was 
animated with ihc same views as that holy Doctor. 



402 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

the priest. O admirable grandeur ! O surprising goodness ! O 
humble excellence ! that the Sovereign of the universe, God, and 
the Son of God, should debase Himself to such a degree, as to 
hide Himself, for our salvation, under the humble species of 
bread. Reflect seriously, my brethren, on the debasement of a 
God ; open your hearts in His presence, humble yourselves before 
Him, in order that he may raise you up ; retain nothing within 
you of yourselves, in order that He may give Himself wholly to 
you, and receive from you all that you are.* 

^*I also warn my brethren, and I exhort them in our Lord, 
that, in the places in which they dwell, only one Mass be celebrated 
each day, and that it be celebrated according to the Ritual of the 
Roman Church. If there should be many priests then, let this be 
observed, notwithstanding. By a love of charity, let one priest be 
satisfied with hearing the Mass of another, because our Saviour 
Jesus Christ fills with His grace those present and absent, who are 
worthy of it. Although He is in many places, He is ever the 
same, indivisible and impassible ; and He associates, according to 
His good pleasure, the only true God and Lord, together with 
the Father and the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.'"' 

Melancthon f availed himself of the last article of this letter, J 
in support of his error on private Masses, which he pretended 
were contrary to the institution of Jesus Christ. Cardinals Bellar- 
mine and Bona have clearly demonstrated that the use of these 
Masses has been found to be established from the beginning of 
the Church ; and the very expressions of this letter show that St. 
Francis was far from finding them to be wrong. He says, ''I 
warn and exhort my brethren to celebrate only one Mass. " If he 
had thought that to celebrate many was acting contrary to the in- 
tention which Jesus Christ had in instituting the mystery, he 
should have said : '' I order that only one Mass shall be celebrated, 
and I forbid the celebration of many ; " and undoubtedly he 
would have said so, he who was so careful to conform in every- 

* In this sense Saint Augustine says, that "he who approaches to the Holy 
Table, where he receives the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, who died lor 
us, should be ready to give his, also, either for the faith or for his brethren.'* 
Tract. 47 in Joan., n. 2. 

t Melanct. Apol. Conf. Aug., art. de Mis. — Bellarm. de Missa, lib. 2, capp. 9 
et 10. Bona. de. Reb. liturg., lib. i., cap., 14. 

t Eckius has denied that Saint Francis was its author. Cardinals 
Bellarmine and Possevin had doubts on the subject, but the whole Order 
have recognized it as his, and Wading has given solid proofs of it. Others 
have thought that he only spoke of the common Mass, called Conventual, or 
of the Mass of Maundy-Thursday; and some have been of opinion that he 
had thought that, according to the usage of the Roman Church, only one 
Mass ought to be said where there were many priests : all that is erroneous, 
and without any foundation. Eckius, in Enchirid. Bellarm. supra. Possev. 
in Appar. sao. Wad. in Epist. 12 S. Franc. Bona. De Rep. Liturg. supra. 



I 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSIST. 403 

thing to the Gospel, and who, in his capacity of founder and general 
of his Order, had a right to command and to forbid. Moreover, 
he knew that his brethren, who were priests, had a right, as all 
others, to say Mass when they pleased, since he says in the same 
letter : ''Whenever they say Mass, let them say it with purity of 
conscience." It was only, then, an advice which he gave them, 
not to make use of this liberty, for reasons which we shall presently 
explain. In fine, we have seen in his life that he had Mass said 
in his room w^hen he was sick : a proof that he did not think this 
custom very contrary to the intention of Jesus Christ, and he as- 
suredly did not believe it to be so, since, by the admission of the 
heretics and critics, it was a common practice in his time. His 
faith was too pure and too firm for him to have thought that the 
Holy Roman Church would either do or approve of anything 
contrary to the intention of our Saviour. Thus it is calumniously 
that the sectarians have quoted him ; his letter alone convicts them 
of what is false.* 

A recent author has mentioned it as a remains of the ancient 
discipline of the Church, f according to which, he assumes that pri- 
vate Masses were not said in the first ages of the Church. But, in 
the first place, there is not a single word in the letter of St. Francis, 
which can even lead one to suspect that he meant to revive the 
primitive discipline. Secondly, the Catholic doctors have proved, in 
answer to the heretics of the latter ages, that the custom of saying 
private Masses is of the remotest antiquity, and that the Church 
never made any law to prevent their being celebrated. Thirdly, 
that, whether these Masses were celebrated more or less frequently 
in the first ages, in difi"erent places, it is certain, and the author 
admits it, that the practice is very praiseworthy and very holy, that 
it is approved by the Church, and that the priests may celebrate 
it daily, provided their intentions are pure, and their dispositions 
holy. After this, of what use can his book b^ ? J 

^^ The Spanish Inquisitors should not have attached this note to it — CuN/i 
lege — in the Catalogue of books which are to be read with precaution, wliich 
was pubhshed in 1612; and Wading should not have approved of that note, 
nor of the use which has been made of it in some of the editions of the 
** Biblioth^que des P^res/' All that ought to have been noticed is, that the 
heretics had made a bad use of it, without any good reason. Wading, 
supra. 

t It is in a small work of an anonymous, but weU-knt)wn, autlior, entitled : 
** Lettre sur TAncienne Discipline de I'Eglise, touchant la celebration de !a 
Messe, qui pent servir de suppl<Sment au nouvcau Traits des tiispositions j^our 
les saints mysl^res." The author of this treatise is also the author of the 
treatise, '' De la Pricre Publique, and has made himself but too well known. 
The letter was printed at Paris in 1708, by Ammonneville. 

t He hypercriiically denies the factsasserted by the Catholic Doctors to prove 
the ancient custom of celebrating private Masses ; by this he gives support to 
the heretics. He favors also the indolence and indcvotion of those priests 



404- S. FRANCIS OF ASSISE. 

We must now examine what the holy patriarch's motive w^as, 
for exhorting his brethren to have only one Mass said daily in the 
houses of his Order. 

Some persons think that, as he had a great leaning towards 
a life of solitude, the greatest number of his houses w^ere then 
in solitary places ; it was his wish that strangers should not come 
to them frequently ; and that, not to attract them by a number 
of Masses, he advised his brethren to have but one said daily. 
Formerly, they were so cautious not to disturb the quiet of the 
servants of God in their monasteries, that Pope St. Gregory,* in 
accordance wdth his predecessor, Pelagius, forbade the bishops from 
celebrating solemn Mass in them ; and in the Council of Lateran, 
under Calixtus II,, it was forbidden to the abbots and monks to 
celebrate Mass publicly ; that is, to admit seculars into their churches 
when they celebrated. St. Francis may have intended to have kept 
his brethren in a state of recollection by the same means. 

Nevertheless, his letter shows that he had another motive. En- 
lightened by the most vivid rays of that light of faith and intelligence 
which the Holy Ghost sheds on pure minds, he reflected on the 
mystery of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus Christ, the Son of the living 
God, who comes to place Himself on the altar, in the hands of the 
priest, under the humble species, struck him with such astonishment, 
that it was not possible for him to express himself but by rapture 
and exclamations. He represented to himself the sublime dignity 
of priests, the honor they have, far above that of the angels, the 
eminent sanctity which their character requires, the enormity of the 
crime of celebrating in a state of sin, and the horror of the punish- 
ment it deserves. Full of these thoughts, he informed the priests 
of his Order that they ought to feel annihilated in considering the 
debasement of the Son of God in the sacrifice of the Mass, open 
their hearts in His presence, and, in return for His giving Himself 
wholly to them, give themselves so entirely to Him, that they should 
keep nothing of themselves back. And he immediately adds : '' I 
also warn my brethren, and exhort them, to celebrate but one jMass 
daily, in the places in which they dwell ; and if there should be 
many priests there, let them be satisfied in observing this ; and for 
the love of charity let them be contented wdth hearing this one 
Mass. " It is evident that this warning and this exhortation had 

who pass whole years without saying Mass, and without bringing themselves 
into the frame of mind to be able to say it; and gives room to irreligious 
persons to censure the present measures of the Church, as if she were 
not equally prudent in all ages. The letter, moreover, contains many rash 
and indiscreet things, adverse to piety, and calculated to scandalize the faith- 
ful. When persons choose to write on these subjects, they ought to do so 
in Latin, wdth great circumspection, and in a Catholic spirit. 

* S. Greg. Regist. lib. Epist. 4*^, et in not. edit. nov. Concil. Later. I, Can. 
17. Bona, de Reb. Lit. lib. i capp. xiii., xviii. 



S. FKAN'CIS OF ASSISI. 405 

their source in the fear he entertained that human fraiky might 
hinder them from being every day in a sufficiently holy state, such 
as he wished them to be, to say Mass. 

We may, moreover, remark that he endeavored to impress them 
with similar sentiments to his own, which had prevented his taking 
priest's orders. Mark, of Lisbon, observes, * that, being seriously 
pressed to take Orders, he had recourse to prayer, in order to learn 
the will of God on the subject ; that an angel appeared to him, 
holding a vase full of very clear liquor, and said to him : " Francis, 
look at this ; he who w'ould administer the most Blessed Sacra- 
ment, must be as pure as this liquor." Upon which the humble 
servant of God resolved to continue for the remainder of his 
life in deacon's orders. In the same sentiment he exhorted his 
brethren who were in the priest's orders, to humble themselves in 
the exercise of their holy ministry, in acknowledgment of their 
unworthiness, by refraining from saying Mass daily, as they might. 

Now, there are four things deserving of especial notice in this 
letter, in order to have it perfectly understood, and in order not to 
draw consequences from it not in accordance with his intentions. 

I. In consequence of his exhorting his brethren not to celebrate 
Mass daily, it must not be concluded that he wished them to cele- 
brate unfrequently. There were then but few priests in the Order ; 
the number was very limited in each house, and he wished them to 
say their Masses, daily, alternately ; therefore, no one among them 
could be many days without celebrating. Such, consequently, 
who say their Masses but seldom, cannot shield themselves under 
the authority of the doctrine of St. Francis. The Council of 
Trent is not in their favor ; it directs the bishops to take care that 
the priests who have not the care of souls, shall say Mass, at least, 
on all Sundays and solemn festival days.f The primitive Church 
will also not justify their conduct, for the priests who did not say 
their Mass in private, assisted at the bishop's Mass, and received the 
communion from his hands ; those, on the contrary, of whom we 
are speaking, keep away from the Holy Communion, as well as 
from the altar. They are, nevertheless, aware that this estrangement 
has been blamed by the holy fathers, who have always exhorted the 
faithful to frequent communion ; that Jesus Christ has given us 
His ]3ody to be the usual nourishment of our souls ; that the 
primitive Christians received it daily ; that, at the close of the fourth 
century, it was still the custom at Rome, in Spain, and in AiVica, 
according to the testimony of St. Jerome and St. Augustine ; J that 

* In the fust book of the Chronicles of the Friars Minors, chapter Hi., 
Wading does not mention this circumstance, either thnnigh inadvertence, or 
from not having found it in the manuscripts he had seen, 

t Cone. Trid., sess, 23., cap. xiv. 

X S. Hier, Kpist. nd Pannnarlj. pro lil>ris suis. et Epist. ad Lucin. S. August. 



406 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

the Church, in the Council of Trent, conjures her children, by the 
bowels of the mercy of God, to have sufficient piety to receive 
frequently the celestial bread ; and that it was her wish that, at every 
i\Iass, all those who assisted at it should communicate, not only 
spiritually, and by an interior sentitijent of devotion, but by the 
sacramental reception of the Holy Eucharist, in order more effica- 
ciously to participate of the fruits of the holy sacrifice. The custom 
of receiving but seldom arises from an erroneous principle, which 
tends to abolish the use of the sacraments ; or from an extreme 
attachment to sin, which brings about a contempt of the heavenly- 
nourishment, or a state of tepidity and supineness, ending in 
disgust. 

2. It cannot be doubted but that St. Francis had similar feel- 
ings of reverence, fear^ and humility, for the Holy Communion, 
to those wdth which he endeavored to inspire his brethren, in respect 
to the sacrifice of the Mass. Nevertheless, the love he bore it 
was predominant in his heart. St. Bonaventura says that he was 
a frequent communicant,* and we see in his letters that he 
exhorted all to receive the Body and Blood of our Lord. He 
would, therefore, have approved of his brethren celebrating fre- 
quently, and even daily, by an ardent desire to unite themselves 
to Jesus Christ. St. Augustine, speaking of two men,"}" one of 
whom, to honor Jesus Christ, did not dare pass a single day with- 
out communicating, and the other, who, from a similar motive, 
did not dare communicate daily, decided that they both did 
Him honor : the one like Zaccheus, who ran joyfully to his house 
to receive Him ; and the other, like the centurion, who, from 
humility, did not deem himself worthy to receive Him into his 
house. We see clearly in this, that it w^as not upon the custom of 
seldom or frequently communicating, but upon the more or less 
frequent communions, that his approval was given. St. Thomas, J 
who is of the same opinion, does not hesitate to say that the love 
which induces an approach to the sacrament is preferable to the 
fear which keeps a person away from it, because all the Holy 
Scripture excites us to love. This was also the opinion of St. 
Augustine, § since he says in the same place that the Body of the 
Lord is the remedy which we ought daily to have recourse to, 
when we are not unworthy of it ; and, in another place, address- 
ing himself to those who had been recently baptized: '^You 
should know w^hat you have received, what you will receive, and 
what you ought to receive daily. This bread which you see on 

Epist 54 alias Ii8 ad Januar. et lib. 2 de serm. Dom. in monte, cap. vii. 
Cone. Tiiden. sess. 13, cap. vi., et sess. 23, cap. vi. 

* S. 'Bonav. leg. S. PVan., cap. ix. f S. Aug. supra, Epist. 54. 

t 3* Part, quaest. 80. art. 10 ad tertium. 

J .S. August, serm. 227, ed. noy. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISL 407 

the altar, which is consecrated by the word of God,"^ is the Body 
of Jesus Christ." 

On this principle the grandeur of the mystery, and the consider- 
ation of our baseness, may sometimes prevent a priest from cele- 
brating, and a layman from communicating ; but love ought to 
give them confidence, and prevail on them to approach the holy 
table. ''The peculiar quality of those who ardently love,'' says 
St. Chrysostom,"!" '' is to desire to be one with that which they love. 
Jesus Christ, wishing to testify to us the ardor of the love He has 
for us, has united His body to us so strictly, that we are altogether 
one with Him, as the members are one body joined to the head." 
''After having received the marks of a love so intense," continues 
the holy doctor,;]; "let us not remain insensible ; let us approach 
the sacred table with fervor, with greater eagerness than infants do 
the breast of their nurses ; and let the most grievous of our dis- 
appointments be the privation of this celestial nourishment. Those 
who are long deprived of it, and who feel no regret at the privation, 
and who are not excited to wish for this aliment, do not respond 
to the love which Jesus Christ bears them — they love Him not, 
since they do not desire to be united to Him ; and, in thus refusing 
to receive Him, they do not honor Him, for it is to this mystery of 
love that the words of St. Austin are appropriately applied : 'Nee 
colitur nisi amando.' % He is only honored by loving Him ; He 
only considers Himself honored by love." 

3. When St. Francis advised his brethren to celebrate one Mass 
a day in the houses of his Order, they were for the greater part 
situated in remote places, to which people seldom came. Now they 
are almost in every town ; the Friars Minors having been called 
into themi for the service of their neighbor, which requires that many 
Masses shall be said in them. The Council of Trent desires that 
priests who have the care of souls, shall celebrate as often as it 
may be necessarv to satisfy their obligations. || It is here that 
the religious, who are devoted to aid the pastors, are under the 
necessity of celebrating frequently. Their holy patriarch, who had 
an ardent zeal for the salvation of souls as we have seen, and we 



* It must be noticed that he attributes the consecration to the Divine Word 
only, and not to the prayer or invocation. Not but that the prayer or invo- 
cation is made at the sacrifice of the Mass, to beg of God the ndiniral^le 
change which is there made, and, in this sense, it may have been said that it 
contributes to the consecration ; but it does not follow from it that it ctToct- 
ively operates it, nor that it is an essential part of the form which consecrates. 
The passages of the holy fathers are too precise on that head ; they declare 
that the bread only becomes the Body of Jesus Christ, by the very words of 
Jesus Christ, pronounced by the priest. 

t S. Chrys. Momil. 45 in Joan. \ S. Chrys. Homil. S3 in Matt. 

$ S. Aug. lC|)ist. 140 ad Honor., alias 120, cap. xvii. 

IJ Cone. Trid. sess. 23, cnp. xi\ 



408 S. FRANCIS OF ASS IS I. 

shall have other opportunities of noticing, would doubtless have 
consented that, lor the edification of the public, they should have 
bent to this exigence ; he would even have recommended them to 
conform to the usage in future times, had he foreseen that the heretics 
would have condemned it, as contrary to the intention of Jesus 
Christ, and that they would have endeavored to deprive the faith- 
ful of the consolation of hearing Mass and communicating. His 
faith, which was pure and active, would not have permitted that 
error should avail itself of an advice which he had given upon grounds 
of piety, in the bosom of the Catholic Church. But, if the spiritual 
advantage of their neighbor is a motive which may induce the 
Friars Minors to say Masses frequently, and even daily, this engage- 
ment should cause them to have this letter of St. Francis frequently 
before them, in order to be brought to live with that purity which 
he mculcates, so that they may never celebrate but with fervor and 
love, joined to deep reverence, and that one Mass for them may 
serve as a preparation for the next. If at times they may find them- 
selves less disposed for this solemn act, it is then that they must 
literally follow the advice of their father, and abstain from celebrat- 
ing, purifying themselves by penance, and by this means bring 
themselves into a frame of mind to return promptly to the altar 
with an increase of love, of desire, and of faithfulness. 

4. St. Francis was desirous that such of his brethren who were 
priests should be pure and holy, that they should celebrate the 
sacred mysteries with great purity, and should expand their hearts 
in presence of the Son of God, giving themselves wholly to Him, 
without retaining any part for themselves. St. Chrysostom says * 
that there is no purity and sanctity greater than that which ought 
to be in the breast of a priest, when he offers the awful and tremend- 
ous sacrifice ; he ought to have as much as if he w^as in heaven 
amidst the celestial powers ; and, speaking of the Holy Communion, 
he exclaims : "Who, then, ought to be more pure than he who is 
permitted to participate in such a sacrifice ^ What ray of the sun 
is not inferior in splendor to his hand, his mouth, his tongue ^ '"' 
St. Augustine f feared entering the priesthood ; he found it difficult 
to perform its functions well ; he wept during his ordination ; he 
said that sanctity was the true characteristic of priests ; and this is 
what he addressed to the faithful, on the subject of communion : 
'' Be careful, my brethren, of what you do ; eat this celestial bread 
spiritually ; take innocence to the altar at which you receive it." 

In the last century, some disingenuous persons, whose noxious 
doctrine still exercises the patience of the Church, pretended \ 

* S Cbrys. de Sacerd. lib. 3, n. iv., et lib. 6, n. iv. Id. Homil. 83111 Matt. 
+ S. Aug. Epist. 21, alias 148. Id. Tract. 26 in Joan. 

X The celebrated work on Frequent Communion was only written to deter 
the faithful from communicating, under the s]->eciou5 pretext of not having the 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 4O9 

that these sublime dispositions were absolutely necessary for com- 
municants, and that it was proper to abstain from celebrating or 
communicating, till the perfection designated had been acquired. 
They sheltered themselves under the specious pretexts of striving 
to attain it by penitential exercises ; but it was like those of whom 
St. Ambrose says,* that their penance consisted in abstaining from 
the divine mysteries ; that, in that, they punished themselves too 
severely, and with a sort of cruelty ; that they set themselves as a 
penance the privation of a remedy requisite for the cure of the 
evil ; that they had no regret in consequence of it, which, never- 
theless, they ought to feel, because this privation deprived them of 
celestial grace. 

Every one knows that the Church teaches f that no person, 
whose conscience upbraids him with any mortal sin, whatever 
contrition he may seem to himself to have, may approach the holy 
Eucharist, unless having previously purified himself by sacramental 
confession : to act otherwise would be, as St. Paul says, J to be 
guilty of crime against the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ ; it 
would be to eat his own condemnation, not discerning the Body 
of our Lord ; we must be in a state of grace to receive worthily. 
It is also well known that all sinners do not resemble the Pro- 
digal Son ; that, at the first signs of repentance, they ought not to 
be admitted to the holy table ; that, after certain crimes, after an 
habitual attachment to sin, a faithful minister must prudently, and 
according to the spirit of the Church, have sufficient proof of the 
sincerity of the penitent before admitting him to the holy com- 
munion, and even before giving him absolution. St. Ambrose § 
says of false penitents who solicit absolution to go immediately to 
communion, that they are not loosed, and that they bind the priest ; 
that their consciences are not cleared, and that they implicate him, 



perfection which the author pretends to have been required by the holy 
fath<jrs, as a necessary preliminary disposition. But. besides this opinion, 
which is false and dangerous, he lays down the following proposition : 
'• Saint Peter and Saint Paul are two heads of the Church, who are but one;'' 
which Pope Innocent X. declared to be heretical on the 24th of January. 1647, 
and prohibited the reading any books which contained it; and Pope Alex- 
ander VIII. condemned, on the 7th of December, 1690, several other articles 
which are in the same book. The faithful must not seek instruction on com- 
munion in these poisonous sources, but let them read orthodox works which 
discuss it, particularly the sermons of two illustrious preachers: those of 
]>()urdaloue, for the first Thursday in Lent, for Palm Sunday, the Sunday 
Mytliin the octave of Corpus Christi, and for the twenty-third Sunday after 
J'entcc'^st ; and those of Father la Rue, for Palm Sunday, for ^ruesciay in 
I.oly Week, and for the Monday in Easter week. There they will learn 
so^ind doctrine on worthy and frequent communion. 

* S Ambr. de Poeni'.en., lib. 2, cap. ix., 

t Cone. Triden. sess. 13. cap. vii. t i Cor, xi., 27. 29. 

^ S. Ambrose, de Pocnit., lib. 2. cap. ix. 

18 



410 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

because he is forbidden from giving what is holy, lo the dogs.* 
If a person communicates frequently and derives little fruit from 
it, but is tepid and supine, and does not exert himself to avoid 
venial sins, particularly those .which are most considerable and 
dangerous, it is certain that a prudent director ought to interrupt 
the course of his communions, and endeavor to inspire him with 
greater sentiments of penance and fervor, and with an ardent desire 
to make at an early period a salutary use of the Bread of Life. 

Finally, the teachers of spiritual life approved of persons some- 
times abstaining from communion, to punish some small faults, to 
strengthen their fragility by a more lively sorrow, as has been the 
practice of many of the saints, provided that they quickly return to 
the divine nourishment which St. Ambrose and St. Augustine f 
have called the remedy for ordinary faults, and w^hich is the most 
effectual means of attaining perfection. 

AH these maxims are based on the doctrine of the holy fathers. 
But that, for receiving the body of Jesus Christ, it is necessary to 
have acquired perfection, and to abstain from it as long as a 
person is not perfect, is what they never taught. When it was 
said, that innocence was to be taken to the altar, and that persons 
ought to approach the holy table with angelic purity, with a 
holiness more brilliant than the ravs of the sun ; thev imitated the 
conduct of God in the commandment he gives us to love Him 
with our whole heart, with all our strength, and with all our mind. \ 
The fund of weakness which is in us, says St. Augustine, § prevents 
us from loving in this life with all the perfection which those 
words imply ; we shall only love Him in that manner when we 
shall see Him face to face. Nevertheless, He even now gives us 
the command, and it is for the purpose of showing us the term 
of the career which he opens to us, in which it is His desire that, 
by means of faith, hope, intention, prayer and good works, we 
should advance, without halting, until we arrive at the plenitude 
and at the consummation of Divine love. 

In the same manner the holy fathers required the most perfect 
and most sublime dispositions in those who offered up the divine 
sacrifice of the Mass, or participated in it, in order that they 
might form to themselves as exalted an idea of the holy mysteries 
as they had, and that they might continually strive to purify, im- 
prove, and sanctify themselves, in order to approach thereto more 
worthily on each succeeding occasion. It is not possible to attach 
any other meaning to their words ; for they exhorted all persons 



* Mat. vii., 6. 

t S. Ambr. de Sacram,, lib. 4, cap. vi., et lib. 5, cap. iv. S. August. Epist. 
54 supra, 

X Luke X., 27. 

j S. August, de Spirit, et I.itt., cap. xxxvi. et de Perf. Just., c. 8. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 4 1 I 

to communicate frequently, even daily, and they were well aware 
that the frailty of human nature gave no room to hope that these 
eminent dispositions would at all times be found in the partici- 
pants, where it would be fortunate if they were at length found, 
after having frequently communicated during a whole life ; besides 
the consideration that these dispositions must be the fruits of fre- 
quent communion. It is also in this way that we must understand 
what the angel said to St. Francis, in representing to him the 
purity required from priests, by the symbol of a veiy clear liquid, 
and that which the saint said to the priests of his Order : '' Keep 
nothing in you of yourselves, in order that He who gives Himself 
wholly to you, shall receive from you all that you are." 

The great love which he had for Jesus Christ, and for the sacra- 
ment which contains His Body, His Blood, His Soul, and His 
Divinity, inspired him with a zeal and a tenderness of devotion to 
His Blessed Mother, which cannot be expressed, as St. Bonaventura 
remarks. He placed himself and his Order under the protection 
of this Blessed Mother of God, whom he chose for his advocate ; 
and in her, after Jesus Christ, was his chiefest confidence : for, 
said he, *^it is she who made this God of Majesty our brother; 
through her we have obtained mercy."* He used, as we have 
noticed, to keep a Lent of six weeks, in honor of her glorious 
Assumption ; and he observed it with great sentiments of piety. 
These are the prayers and eulogiums he was in the habit of 
addressing her : — 

'' Hail, Mary ! Mother of God, ever a Virgin, most holy Lady 
and Queen, in whom is all the plenitude of grace f and every sort 

* Saint Cyril, at the Council of Ephesus, and the other holy fathers, 
attribute to Mary the work and the fruits of our Redemption, in this sense 
which is well understood by the faithful : that, being the Mother of Jesus 
Christ, our Lord and our God, she gave to the world Him, by whom we 
have all been redeemed, and in whom we are justified. — Homil. S. Cyrilli in 
Nestor. Cone. Ephes., part. 2. pag. 583, edit. Labb. 

t Saint Thomas says that the Blessed Virgin had the plenitude of grace, 
inasmuch as she received all the grape which was proportioned to her dignity 
of Mother of God ; and he teaches us that this dignity is in a manner infinite, 
because it forms an intimate union with Jesus Christ who is God ; from whence 
he concludes that Mary is more replenished with grace than all the angels 
and men, according to the opinion of vSaint Peter Chrysologus : ^' Shio///is 
^j'atia se est largita per partes ; Mari(C vera siuiiil se iotani dcdit grat'ur plcni- 
tudo.^^ Is it not thence legitimately inferred that the Blessed Virgin had 
also the grace of being preserved from original sin ? And it is not only the 
dictum of Saint Thomas, from which the same consequence is deduced. It 
follows from what Saint Augustine says: '*We know that Mary received as 
many more graces to enable her to triumph entirely over sin, since it is she 
who was deserving of conceiving and giving birth to liim, who, failh assures 
us, was exempt from all sin, and who was wholly incapable of having any 
contact with sin." And is it not in this sense that we must understand the 
vci V strong expression of Saint Ansclm : "It ])ehovcd that the Blessed 



412 S. FKANXIS OF ASSISI. 

of good. Amongst women there are none born '^ like unto thee : 
thou art the daughter and the handmaid of our celestial Father, 
the great King; and he has chosen thee for the mother of His 
beloved Son. Thou art the Spouse of the Holy Ghost the Com- 
forter. Hail to thee, who art the palace, the temple, and the 
Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ ! I honor all the virtues with 
which thou art filled. Thou who art as mild as thou art beau- 
tiful, implore thy very dear Son, conjure Him by His great 
clemency, by the virtue of His most sacred incarnation and that 
of His most painful death, to pardon our faults. Amen.'' 

The indissoluble ties of spiritual love, says the holy doctor 
whom we have quoted, united Francis to the hierarchy of the 
angels, caused by the marvellous fire which absorbs them in God, 
and with which they influence the elect. The ardent zeal he had 
for the salvation of souls, attached him intimately to the Arch- 
angel St Michael, because his employment is to present them to 
the throne of the Divine Majesty. It was to honor these blessed 
spirits, that he kept every year a Lent of forty days, before the feast 
of St. IMichael, adding to it a continual exercise of prayer. He 
had prescribed to himself another Lent, to prepare for the festival 
of All-Saints, who seemed to him to be, according to the ex- 
pression of Fzekiel, precious stones, glittering as fire, the memoiy 
alone of which f excited him to a more fervent love of God. The 
great love which all the apostles had for Jesus Christ, led him to 
revere them with peculiar devotion, particularly Saints Peter and 
Paul, in honor of whom he fasted from Whit-Sunday to their 
feast. 

It is useful to remark here that this great saint, who was raised 
to a sublime degree of prayer, did not neglect, nevertheless, the 
usual practices of piety with the rest of the faithful. This may 

Virgin, who was to have the same Son as the Eternal Father, should be pure, 
with such purity, that any greater could not be imagined below that of God 
Himself? ^^ S. Thomas, 3^ Part, quaest. 27. art. 5, et i^ Part, qusest. 25, art. 
6, ad quartum. S. Petr. Chrysol. Serm. 145, de Annunt. S. August, de 
nat. et grat., cap. xxxvi. S. Anselm. de Concept. Wading, cap. xviii. 

* Saint Bernard also says that there is one thing in which the Blessed 
\irgin never had and never will have any one like unto her ; it is that she 
has the gladness of maternity with the honor of virginity. This is the 
privilege of Mary, which will never be given to any other : it is peculiar to 
her, and is at the same lime ineffable. The same saint adds, that all the 
virtues she appears to have in common with others, are, nevertheless, peculiar 
lo her, inasmuch as they are incomparably more perfect in her than in 
others. — Serm. de Assumpt. 

t Saint Bernard speaks in these terms of the memory of the saints: *' I ac- 
knowledge, my brethren, that this memory excites these ardent wishes in me : 
that of tlieir society, that of a similar beatitude, and that of their interces- 
sion.'' Such wishes Jead to an imitation of their virtues, draw down their 
protection, render the wisher worthy to be admitted into their company, and 
to participate in their bliss. 



S. FRANCIS OF AS6ISI. 413 

against an illusion \^hich might lead to the 
belief that they are useless to the spiritual, and that those who are 
mystical, may dispense with them, to devote themselves to contem- 
plation. His heart was so full and so penetrated with that true 
and sincere piety, of which charity is the soul, that it seemed to 
have entire possession of him. It united him incessantly to God, 
to the friends of God, and to everything which was holy ; but, as 
the apostle says, that it is profitable to all things,* it gave him a 
fund of all that was good, a spirit of meekness, of condescension, 
and of zeal, to communicate with his neighbor. 

All men were dear to him, because he saw in them the same 
nature, the same grace, the image of the Creator, and the blood 
of the Redeemer. If he had not taken care of the salvation of 
souls, which Jesus Christ had redeemed, he would not have con- 
sidered himself among the number of His friends. "Nothing," 
he said, " is preferable to the salvation of souls; " and he gave 
several reasons for this, and principally this one : that, for them, 
the only Son of God had condescended to be nailed to the cross. 
It was also for them that he labored and lived ; for them, in some 
measure, he called in question the justice of God in prayer, and 
powerfully solicited His mercy ; for them he frequently forewent 
the sweets of a contemplative life ; he undertook journeys, he 
preached everywhere, he exposed himself to martyrdom, and 
their edification was one of his motives in the practice of virtue. 
Although his innocent flesh, already perfectly under the control 
of the spirit, did not require to be chastised for any faults, he, 
neverth-eless, mortified it in various ways for the edification of his 
neighbor. When he was censured for his too great austerities, 
"I am sent,'' he replied, "to give this example; if I had not 
the charity to give it,f I should be of little use to others, and of 
none to myself, although I spoke all the languages known to 
men and angels." 

Seeing that a multitude of persons, stimulated by his example, 
fervently embraced the cross of Christ, he became animated with 
fresh courage to put himself at the head of these pious troops, as 
a valiant captain, in order to gain with them a victory over the 
devil, by the practice of a perfect and invincible virtue. 

The sanctity of his life gave him great freedom in his manner 
of preaching. He spoke fearlessly, without any apprehension of 
what critics might say, because he had acted befone teaching, and 
he felt and hacl experienced all he said. The zealous preacher 
knew not how to flatter. Far from sj^aring sinners by compla- 
cence, he reproached their vices in forcible language, and attacked 
their disorderly conduct with great vehemence. The presence of 



I Tim, iv., 8. \ 1 C'or. xiii., 6. 



414 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

the great of the world did not indmidate him ; he spoke to them 
as plainly and forcibly as he had done to the common people ; 
and, as all souls were equally dear to him, he preached as will- 
ingly, and with as much zest, to a few people, as to a crowded 
auditory. This is an excellent model which teaches preachers to 
be themselves exemplary, to speak the truth without fear, and not 
to neglect small auditories. 

The tender love which St. Francis bore for souls redeemed by 
the blood of Jesus Christ, rendered him very sensible to their mis- 
fortunes. When he knew of any one stained by the filth of sin, 
he lamented over it with such deep grief, that he was as a mother 
who brings forth in pain and suffering, to restore it to Jesus Christ. 
His charity, fertile in expedients, inspired him sometimes to give 
to wicked persons temporal assistance, with a view of getting them 
to return to the ways of salvation. One day, when he was at the 
convent of IMount Casal, Brother Angelo, who was the guardian 
of it, told him that there were in the neighborhood three notori- 
ous thieves, who injured considerably the farmers of the vicinity, 
and daily came and extorted from them the bread which was des- 
tined for the convent, without their being able to prevent it. 
" Biother," he replied, '' if you will do what I will point out to 
you, my confidence in God tells me that you will reform these 
men, and gain their souls. Go and seek them out : although they 
are thieves, they are still our brothers. Take them the best bread 
you have, and some wine, spread a cloth on the ground, and 
invite them to eat with you ; while they are eating, speak to them 
of hcly things, in an insinuating manner, both yourself and your 
companion ; humbly entreat them to injure no one any more. 
If they promise you this, return to them the next day, and take 
them something to eat, with bread and. wine as before, and tell 
them that you bring that, as to brethren and friends, who have 
granted you what you asked of them. If you do this a third time, 
do not doubt but God will enlighten them, and touch their hearts, 
and bring them into the right way.'' 

Brother Angelo followed this advice, and gained over the thieves 
so completely, that they gave up their lives of plunderers, and 
began to render service to the convent, supplying them with fire- 
wood, which they carried to them on their shoulders. Their con- 
version was complete : one of them entered the Order, and the other 
two went elsewhere to embrace a penitential life. The guardian 
used similar means for converting three other thieves, who retired 
into the recesses of the mountain, after having induced the saint 
to pray for them. They became afterwards all three Friars Minors, 
and lived holy lives. 

The aff'ection which our saint had always shown for the poor 
from his infancy, during the first years of his youth, and at the 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 415 

beginning of his conversion, became stronger and stronger, and 
was manifested on all occasions. St. Bonaventura says that he 
spared nothing to come to their assistance. Cloaks, tunics, books, 
the ornaments of the Church, all that he had he gave to them. 
Many times he has been seen to take the burdens from the poor 
he met on the road, and bear them on his own weak shoulders. 
When he returned from begging, he shared what he had received 
with any that solicited alms at his hands ; and as long as anything 
remained, he never refused any one. 

At Sienna, a small cloak had been given to him, which was 
very necessary for his infirmides ; but, in leaving the town, he 
met a poor person, whose wretched state excited his pity, and he said 
to his companion : ' ' Let us restore this cloak to him, for it belongs 
to him ; we have only borrowed it, until such time as we should 
see some one poorer than ourselves. " The companion, knowing 
that Francis really required it, endeavored to prevent his parting 
with it, but the father made him this answer : ^'If I did not give 
this cloak to a poor man, who had more need of it than I have, I 
should think I had committed a theft, which I should be convicted 
of by our Sovereign Lord, who is the universal almoner.'' It 
was for this reason that, when anything was given him, he asked 
leave to give it away, if he should meet with any one poorer than 
himself. 

On the same principle, notwithstanding his infirmities, when 
he was at the convent at Celles, he gave another cloak, which he 
had received in charity, to a poor woman, who had two little 
children who were almost naked. One of the brothers having taken 
it back, promising to give the woman something else instead, ^' My 
brother," the saint said immediately, ''kneel down and acknow- 
ledge your fault ; give the cloak back to the woman : she is poorer 
than I am." His companions got him another, and he gave it 
again to a man of Cortona, who came to solicit alms for the love 
of God, at the same convent at Celles, and who said that his wife 
was dead, and that he had several little children, and that he had no 
food for them : ''1 give you this cloak," said the saint, *'on this 
condition, that, if you are asked to give it back, you do no such 
thing, unless you receive its full value." The brethren, indeed, 
did all they could to induce him to give it back : they told him 
there was no one poorer than the person who had given it to him, 
or who wanted it more on account of his bad health and the rigor 
of the season. But the man, referring to what his benefactor had 
said, answered that the cloak was his, and diat he would not 
part with il, unless he leceived its full value. In order, there- 
lore, to have it returned, they were under die necessity of taking 
him to a friend who gave liim in money what the cloak was con- 
sidered to be wt)rtli. 



4i6 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSlSI. 



A very old woman, the mother of two of the Friars Minors, 
having come to the convent of St. Mary of the Angels to ask 
for charity, Francis told the guardian to give her something ; and 
he having said that there was not anything then in the convent 
which could be given, unless it was a book of the Gospel which 
the brethren read out of, when they were in the choir, ''Give it/' 
said the father, ' ' that the poor woman may sell it to provide for 
her necessities. I believe that that will be more agreeable to God, 
than reading out of it. What is it that a mother has not a right 
to require from us, who has given two of her sons to the religious ?" 

Another time, a poor man, half-naked, came to ask for an old 
habit, or some pieces of one, to cover himself with. Francis de- 
sired them to look out for some habit that was not used. As such 
an one was not to be found, he h.tole aside and began to unpick 
some breadths of his own, in order to give them to the man ; the 
guardian, being informed of this, came down hastily and forbade 
his taking them out: "I will obey you, because you are my 
superior, but give this poor man something to cover himself with ; 
otherwise I shall have a scruple, and shall be grieved to be obliged 
to wear an entire habit w^hich is Hned, to keep me warm, while 
this poor naked man is shivering with cold at the gate."' He 
went to the poor man to console him, and did not leave him until 
the guardian had given him something wherewith to clothe himself; 
and this alms was no less comforting to his charitable feelings, 
than the clothing was to the misery of the poor man. By a similar 
impulse of charity, and in order to prevent their offending " God, 
he gave his cloak to a servant who complained of the great injury 
his master had done him, cursing him and blaspheming Provi- 
dence for allowing the poor to be so ill used, on condition that 
he would leave off cursing and blaspheming. 

The physician who saw the saint in his illness, near Rieti, hav- 
ing one day mentioned the extreme poverty of an old woman 
who was begging, he sent for the guardian, and said : '' Here is a 
cloak which I have worn until such time as some one should be 
found who has a greater right to it than I have ; I beg you to 
send it, with some of the bread which has been received on the 
quest, by one of the brethren, to our sister, who is very poor, and 
let him say that we only give her what belongs to her. 1 conceive 
that what is given to us can only be ours until such time as some 
one shall come forward, who is more in want of it than we are.'' 
Not to vex the holy man, the commission was faithfully executed ; 
but the puzzle was, where to get another cloak to give, and a tunic 
besides, for he had given his own to another poor person. As the 
guardian was turning this in his mind, some cloth was brought 
which the lords, attendant on the Pope, who was at Rieti, sent him ; 
and there was enouii^h to make habits for all the brethren. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 41 7 

Some short time afterwards, Francis, being a little less ill, went 
to preach at Celeno, as we have already noticed. He found in 
the town a poor woman who was almost naked, who asked for 
something to cover her. He first threw her his cloak, and upon 
her representing to him that that was insufficient, he threw her 
the cloak of his companion, saying to him: "Brother, let us 
put up for a while with the rigor of the cold, in order to give this 
woman wherewithal to clothe herself. It is not fitting that the 
true poor should be doubly clad, to warm them, while they see 
other poor obliged to go in a state of nudity." 

The blessed patriarch wished that such of his children who had 
not studied, and had no talent for preaching, should be employed 
in serving their brethren, and should frequent the hospitals, there 
to render the meanest offices to the lepers, with humility and 
charity. He took them there himself, and was the ffi-st to make 
their beds, to dress their sores, to cleanse away the matter, and to 
wash them ; sometimes he put his tongue to the wounds, and 
licked them. When application was made by any one to join 
the Order, he never failed to warn the postulant that he would 
have to attend the lepers, and he often made this their trial ; he 
rejected those who could not make up their minds to perform these 
functions, but he tenderly embraced such as submitted willingly to 
them, encouraged them, and made them love the lepers, by calling 
them "Christian Brothers,"* as if they were supereminently such. 

Brother James the Simple, who came from Perugia, was greatly 
distinguished by his zeal in this charitable exercise, insomuch that 
t,hey gave him the name of the steward and physician of the lepers. 
Francis recommended one to him, whose body was one mass of 
sores, from his head to his feet. James took such care of him, 
that, by degrees, he regained his strength ; and, thinking fresh air 
would contribute to his restoiation, he took him with him, al- 
though still full of ulcers, to the convent of Saint Mary of the 
Angels. This appeared to the saint, who met him, to have been 
very indiscreet, and he said to Brother James : "You should not 
lead about, in this manner, the Christian Brothers; it is neither 
proper in you, nor good for them. I wish you to serve them in 
their hospital, but I do not wish you to take them out of it, for 
there are many persons who cannot bear the sight of diem." The 
leper was distressed at hearing his beneflictor thus reprimanded, 
and he blushed for shame. Francis, perceiving him to have been 
mortified, threw himself immediately at his feet, and begged his 
pardon, and, in order to encourage him, he imposed a penance on 
himself, for which he desired to have leave from Peter of Catana, 

* He pr()1)nl)ly called lliem so, because they were the type of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, of whom the Prophet Isaias says: "We have thought Him as 
it were a leper, and as one struck by Ciod and aftlicted." — Isaias, liii.. 4. 



41 8 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

the vicar of the convent : this was to eat, at the door of the convent, 
out of the same plate with the leper. After which he embraced 
and kissed him, and dismissed him satisfied. _ 

There was in the hospital a leper who was so impatient and so 
violent, that he abused and struck the Friars Minors who served 
him, and even went so far as to blaspheme God. They reported 
this to their father, who offered himself to the sick man, to wait 
upon him : "What can you do for me more than your companions 
have done.?'' replied the invalid. ''Ever since I have had this 
insupportable disorder, God has forgotten me. I am in despair, I 
can live no longer ; no one can mitigate my sufferings ; neither 
you nor any one else." Francis, seeing that he was agitated by the 
evil spirit, left him for a while, prayed for him, and returned to 
exhort him to be patient, by the most urgent motives. As he saw 
that the man became calmer, he asked him what it would be most 
agreeable to him that he should do for him. He said it would be 
to wash his whole body, for that he could no longer endure the 
stench of the infection. The saint quickly got some water warmed, 
into which he put aromatic herbs, and began to wash him him- 
self, while his companion poured out the water. As he washed, 
his cure advanced, and, at the same time, the grace of God made 
such impression on the mind of the patient, that, as the water 
flowed from his body, the tears flowed from his eyes. The washing 
having terminated, the leper being perfectly cleansed and con- 
verted, publicly confessed his sins, asked for mercy, and went 
through a rigorous course of penance. He died a few months 
afterwards, and appeared to the saint, thanking him that, by his 
means, after a light punishment in purgatory, he was about to 
enjoy eternal glory. 

God performed a different miracle on another occasion, to justify 
the charity of His servant to the poor. At Alexandria de la 
Faille, a town of the Milanese, where he was received as a saint, 
he was invited to dinner by a wealthy and pious man. While he 
was at table, a man of bad character, who was, however, jealous 
of Francis's reputation, watched all his actions, in order to decry 
and criticise them : this man counterfeited a beggar at the door, 
and solicited an alms for the love of God. As soon as Francis 
heard the appeal for the love of God, he sent him the wing of a 
fowl, to which he had been just helped. The sham beggar, to 
whom it was taken, kept it. The next day he produced it, in a 
large concourse of people, where the saint was preaching, and, 
interrupting the discourse, he said in a loud voice : "This is the 
food on which the preacher feeds : should such a man be honored 
as a saint .?^ " His malice received a signal check ; the wing of the 
fowl which he exhibited, appeared to the bystanders to be fish, 
and he was thought to have lost his wits. He himself perceiving 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 419 

that what he held up was nothing but fish, was ashamed of what 
he had said, was touched with remorse, and himself published 
what had happened. After which, one miracle succeeded an- 
other : it was found that what had appeared to be fish, was in 
reality flesh. Thus did the Lord vindicate the virtue of His 
servant, punish envy, and convert the envious. The malignity of 
envy often finds its punishment in the artifices it employs to injure 
persons of virtue, but it is very unusual for the envious to be so 
converted. 

St. Bonaventura says that St. Francis felt a most tender compas- 
sion for all who suff'ered from temporal ills ; that, indeed, he had 
naturally a feeling heart, but that the goodness of the heart of 
Jesus Christ, communicating itself to his, rendered it still more 
compassionate. He was the more sensible of the afflictions of 
others, as in all the poor, and in all those who suffered, he repre- 
sented to himself his Divine Master, poor and suffering ; in which, 
continues the holy doctor, he who was himself poor, showed that 
he was so as a perfect Christian. 

When he had it not in his power to alleviate the sufferings of those 
in indigence or sickness, he endeavored, at least by soothing words, 
to assuage their feelings. One day, when he was about to preach, 
he was entreated by a poor and infirm man to recommend him to 
the auditors. His compassion was excited, and, with tears in his 
eyes, he said to his companion that he felt the man's ills as if they 
were his own. His companion answered the man rather drily, 
who was importunate in asking for alms, and in order to moderate 
the feelings of the saint, he said : " If we judged by exteriors, this 
man is apparently in great misery ; but, if we could penetrate his 
interior, we should, perhaps, find that in the whole province there 
is not an individual richer in wishes, or more eaten up with pride : 
such characters are frequently found among beggars. '' Francis cen- 
sured him severely for having repulsed the poor man, and then 
judged him with so much asperity, and pointed out to him that 
in that he grievously offended God. The religious acknowledged 
his error, and asked pardon on his knees. *' I shall not pardon 
you,'' said Francis, "unless you take off your habit, prostrate 
yourself before the poor man, acknowledge your fault, entreat him 
to pardon you, and to pray for you." The humble penitent did 
immediately all that he had been desired to do, after which P'rancis 
embraced him, and said, with great mildness : ''My son, it is not 
so much against the poor man that you have sinned, as agaii^st 
Jesus Christ, for He is in all the poor: they are so many mirrors, 
in which He represents to us His own poverty, and that of His 
Blessed Mother. Therefore, as often as you see the poor and the 
sick, respect them, and humble yourself in their presence ; con- 
sider, with sentiments of i)ict\', that the Son uf God made Himself 



4 2C S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

poor for our sakes, and condescended to take upon Himself our 
infirmities.* 

' ' If we cherish these Christianhke views, we should not judge so 
harshly of the poor, of whom it is no less faulty to judge, than of 
the rich ; and in their poverty we should find as powerful motives 
for loving Jesus Christ, as for affording the succor they require/' 

The heart of St. Francis was naturally so kind and so tender, 
that he felt an affection for creatures, but it was from a profound 
sentiment of piety that he called them his brothers and his sisters. 
Going back to the origin of things, St. Bonaventura says that he 
considered all that had being as having emanated from the bosom 
of the Divinity, and he acknowledged that they had the same 
principle as himself In fact, the creation established amongst 
them a sort of fraternity : God being the parent of all nature, it 
is not to be denied that, in this sense, eveiything which composes it 
is brotherly. And who can censure a man who is wholly religious, 
for expressing himself in a manner which is grounded on the 
first principles of religion ? This trait shows both the elevation 
of his mind, and the piety of his heart ; heretics alone can blame it. f 

Among animals, those he preferred were such as reminded him 
of the mildness of Jesus Christ, or were the symbol of some par- 
ticular virtue, or which gave rise to some edifying reflections ; and 
God has sometimes shown by miracles, how much the motive of 
these feelings was pleasing to Him. Lambs were peculiarly agree- 
able to the holy man, in memorv^ of the meek Lamb who permitted 
Himself to be led to the slaughter, for the redemption of sinners; 
he frequently purchased them, to prevent their being killed. 

* 2 Cor. viii., 9; Isaias liii., 4. 

t The Calvinist, Jiirieu, laid hold of this circumstance in the life of Saint 
Francis, and treated it with an asperity of censure, of which even the Protes- 
tants themselves have highly disapproved on other occasions. Ferrand, who 
was a celebrated controversialist, pointed out, after having refuted the cal- 
umnies of the minister, the injustice of his invectives against him for having 
given the names of brother and sister to animals, which the saint gave to ail 
creatures. Bayle. who notices these things, says that he pities Ferrand, who 
had undertaken the apology of these interesting fraternities; as if it were a 
disgrace for man, whom God created, that He should also have been the 
Creator of animals and the Father of every thing in nature. But with whom 
did this philosopher fraternize when he took such pains to support the extra- 
vagant doctrine of the Manichseans on the two principles ? By fallacious and 
crafty argument, he encouraged libertines and the impious to assert that 
revelation is in direct opposition to reason ; for, this is what is deducible from 
his captious difficulties. We may be assured that heretics, who, like himself, 
consider themselves dishonored by the fraternity of creatures, nevertheless 
bring themselves to fraternize with demons, by the pride which renders them 
rebels to God, by their revolt against His Church. Saint Polycarp, according 
to Saint Iren?eus, thought this connecticm still greater. Having met, at Rome, 
the heresiarch, Marcion, who asked him if he knew him, "Yes," replied he, 
*' I know you for Satan's eldest son." — wS. Iren, contr. Ha^es., lib. 3, cap. iii. 



S. PRA^XIS OF ASSISI. 42 1 

While he was staying at the monastery of St. Vereconda, which 
is in the diocese of Gubbio, he found that on the previous nignt 
a sow had killed with its teeth a lamb, which had just been born. 
The Lamb without spot, whom sinners put to death, flashed 
immediately upon his recollection, and the pity this excited in 
him, caused him to lament sorely the death of the little animal, 
which was a symbol of meekness ; to curse the cruel beast which 
had killed it, and to wish that neither man nor beast might eat of 
its flesh. The sow was at that moment struck with a disease, of 
which it died in three days. It was thrown into a ravine, not far 
distant from the monastery, and no animal ventured to touch it : 
it became dry and hard as a piece of wood. St. Bonaventura 
remarks, on this occasion, that if God was pleased to punish with 
death the cruelty of a beast, how infinitely more severe must not 
cruel and pitiless men think their punishment will be in the 
other world. 

A lad went to Sienna to sell some turtle-doves, which he had 
taken alive. Francis met him on his way, and said : ''These are 
innocent birds, which are compared in Scripture to chaste and 
faithful souls,* I beg you earnestly not to put them into the 
hands of persons who would kill them, but to confide them to 
me." They were given to him, and he put them immediately 
into his bosom ; he spoke to them as if they were capable of 
reasoning, not only by that natural impulse which induces us 
constantly to speak to anim.als, when we caress them, but also by 
an impression of the spirit of God ; for he foretold a great miracle, 
promising to prepare a nest for them, where they might increase 
and multiply, according to the intention of their Creator. Having 
taken them to his convent of Ravacciano, near the walls of 
Sienna, he forced his stick into the ground before the gate, and 
the stick became, by the following day, a large evergreen oak. He 
let the turtle-doves fly into it, desiring them to make their nests 
there, which they did for many succeeding years ; and they were 
so familiar with the religious, that they came to feed from their 
hands. Wading says that the tree is still there. 

Nor did the young man go unrewarded. Francis told him 
that he would become a religious of his Order, and that he would 
acquire eternal glory : he did, in fact, enter die Order, and lived so 
holily as to deserve it. The miracle was the cause of his vocation, 
and at the same time sanctioned the aflection the saint showed 
these birds : he only k^ved God through the affection he showed 
to His creatures. So also, St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, according 
to the tesdmony of St. Gregory of Nyssa,f having planted his 

* Cant, i., 9, and ii., 12. 

t S. Gregor. Nysscn., in vit. vS. Greg. Thaumat., Gper. torn. 2, pp. 99 aiul 
992. 



42 2 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

Stick in a spot where a river was breaking down the dyke and 
doing damage through the countr}^, the Lord changed it suddenly 
into a large tree, which checked the flood entirely, and served to 
honor the faith of his seiTant, and incite the infidels to believe in 
Jesus Christ. 

The divine love which inflamed the heart of St. Francis, made 
everything appear amiable to him which could tend to the love 
and service of God. For this reason he was fond of birds, whose 
carol seemed to invite mankind to publish the gloiy of their 
Creator, who, according to the words of Jesus Christ, ^^ neither 
sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns : yet your heavenly 
Father feedeth them.''* It was gratifymg to him to remark the 
gray and ash color of larks^ the color he had chosen for his Order, 
in order that they might often think on death. He also loved to 
admire the disposition of the plumage of such as were crested, 
which seemed to him to have some relation to the simplicity of 
his habit. On the lark rising into the air, and singing as soon as 
it has taken some grains of corn for its nourishment, he remarked 
with sensible pleasure that this example ought to teach us to give 
thanks to our common Father, who gives us wherewithal for our 
sustenance, only to eat for His glory, to despise the earth, and to 
raise ourselves up to heaven, where our conversation ought to be. f 
He was more fond of these small birds than of any others, because 
they induced holy thoughts, and he took as much care of them as 
he could. 

As he had noble and spiritual motives for his simplest and most 
common actions, God made use of this for the instruction of men 
by the example of a bird. Near the convent of Mount Ranier, or 
Mount Colombo, there was a nest of crested larks, the mother of 
which came every day to feed out of the hand of the servant of 
God, and took sufficient for herself and her brood : when they 
began to be strong, she brought the little ones to him. He 
perceived that the strongest of the brood pecked the others, and 
prevented them from taking up the grain. This displeased him, 
and addressing himself to the little bird as if it could understand 
him. ''Cruel and insatiable little animal,'' he said, ''you will 
die miserably, and the greediest animals will not be willing to eat 
your flesh." In fact, some days afterwards, it was drowned in a 
basin, which was placed for them to drink out of It was given to 
the cats and dogs, to see if they would eat it ; but neither would 
touch it. It may be thought that so trifling an anecdote was not 
worth recording, but there is nothing trifling in the moral it con- 
tains. It is a natural representation of those greedy and insatiable 
men who devour the substance of their brethren, and envy them 

* Matt, vi., 26. t Cur. x., 31 ; Phil, iii., 20. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 423 

all that they cannot despoil them of; enemies of mankind, un- 
worthy of the name of men, thieves, ruffians, ravaging wolves, as 
they are designated in Scripture,* whose voracity, say the holy 
fathers, t surpasses that of wild beasts ; whose life is a public calam- 
ity; hated and detested by all, during their lives, they die as they 
have lived, and their memory is held in execration. J 

The tender-heaitedness which Francis evinced for animals has 
been ridiculed by heretics. Nevertheless, the Holy Ghost tells us, 
by the mouth of Wisdom, that " the just man regardeth the lives 
of his beasts.'"! The patriarch Jacob || excused himself from 
following his brother Esau, because his ewes and cows were heavy, • 
and he was fearful he should kill them if he hurried them. When 
St. Paul said, '' Doth God take care of oxen } '' ^ he only wished to 
insinuate that God is far more interested in what regards men ; and 
what is written in the law of Moses, "Thou shalt not muzzle the 
ox that treadeth out thy corn on the floor," ** must be applied with 
greater reason to the ministers of Jesus Christ, to prove that they 
have a right to live by the altar. We see in the Old Law many regu- 
lations made for the repose of beasts, and for their preservation ; 
it was, in particular, to avert men from any sort of cruelty to their 
fellow-men; for, it has always been remarked that^ such as are 
cruel to animals, are generally so to men also.fl Tenderness must 
not degenerate into extravagance, which would make an idol of a 
beast, for which they sometimes feel more than for persons who 
ought to be dear to them, and of which they take more care than 
of the poor, who are members of Jesus Christ ; but natural mildness 
and a spirit of piety induce us not to injure animals, but to be kind 
to them. 

In this view St. Chrysostom, J;}; commenting on the words of 
Wisdom, which we have just quoted, says that the saints are 
tender-hearted ; that they love all men, strangers as well as their 
own countrymen and their own families, and that their good 
feelings are extended to senseless animals. 

Sulpicius Severus §§ relates of St. Martin, that, seeing some 
hounds pursuing a hare, which they were on the point of catching, 
he ordered them to stop ; he had no sooner spoken, than the 
hounds became immovable on the spot where they were, and they 
did not stir till the hare was placed in safety. 

An author of the life of St. Bernard, 1 1| who had been his 



* Isai. i., 23; Ezcch. xxii., 27. t S. Chrys. Orat. do Avar. 

X S. Aug. serm. 367, alias 25, de verb. Doni. 

§ Prov. xii. 10. II Genes, xxxiii., 13. ^ I Cor. ix., 9. *'' Deut. xxv., 4. 

ft Exod. 23; Levit. xxii.; Deut. xxii. and xxv. 

U S. Chrys. in Kpist. ad Rom., horn. 49 in mor. 

<^^ Sulj). vSev. Dial. 2, de Virt. S. Mart., n. 10. 

nil Vil. S. Bern., auct. Gaufr., lib iii., cap. 7, n. 28, apud Mabill. 



424 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

secretary, says that not only men, but irrational animals, also 
birds, and other beasts, felt the effects of his tenderness. He adds 
that the saint, in one of his journeys, coming close to a hare, which 
the dogs were about to catch, and where a bird was nearly seized 
in the talons of a hawk, delivered them both miraculously by 
the sign of the cross, and then told the sportsmen that all their 
efforts would be useless for taking this prey, when he was by. 

If it had been thought proper not to omit in his life, and in 
that of St. Martin also, these anecdotes of the goodness of their 
hearts, which were enhanced by supernatural evidence, and of 
which God approved by mere efforts of His power, what right 
can critics have to censure precisely similar circumstances in the 
life of St. Francis ? 

The glorious patriarch, who praised God in the minutest 
things, procured his glory in the greatest. His principal care 
was to lead his brethren to perfection ; to render them worthy 
imitators of Jesus crucified, capable of exciting His love in all 
hearts. It would be difficult to point out the founder of an 
Order who had spoken more, taught more, or exhorted more, 
than St. Francis : and it may have been noticed that he instructed 
his disciples in the most solid and eminent virtues. He recom- 
mended them to put the Gospel in practice, as they had promised 
to do, in making profession of the rule to adore profoundly and 
with great devotion the Body of Jesus Christ ; to hear Mass most 
devoutly, to celebrate the Divine Office with attention, carefully to 
keep all the ordinances of the Church ; to have the greatest 
veneration for all priests, humbly to bow in their presence, and to 
kiss their hands. He even said that, if it could be done, they 
ought to kiss the feet of the horses on which they rode, to honor 
the power which they have of consecrating and administering the 
divine mysteries. 

When abroad, it was his desire that his religious should appear 
with so much modesty, reserve, and circumspection, that every 
one might be edified thereby, and glorify God therein. '' Do 
not despise the men of the world," he said, ''and judge not ill 
of them. * You are not to judge other persons' servants, who are 
not yours ; whether they stand or fall, it is not your affair, but 
that of their masters. Have peace in your own mind, make it 
known to others, inspire it to all ; labor for the conversion of 
sinners, for that is your vocation. " 

Attentive to the regulation of the interior, he incessantly ex- 
horted them to correct the smallest defects ; to exercise themselves 
in the practice of holy prayer, to meditate on the Passion of our 
Blessed Saviour, and to use all their efforts to preserve union and 



Rom. xiv., 4. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 425 

fraternal love. ''Happy," said he, ''is the man who loves his 
brother at a distance, as well as when they are together, and who 
would not say in his absence what charity would prevent his say- 
ing in his presence." 

This last article called forth all his vigilance. Hearing that 
one of his brethren had sinned against charity, by some conversa- 
tion in which he had traduced the reputation of another, he said 
to the vicar of the convent: "Go quickly, and inform yourself 
correctly of what occurred ; and if you find the accused innocent, 
give a severe correction to the accuser, which shall mark him in 
the eyes of his brethren. The Order is in danger, if the system 
of backbiting is not checked ; the good odor will be lost, if the 
poisoned tongue of slanderers is not stopped. I desire that you 
will take the greatest care to prevent this pestilential malady from 
spreading. The religious who has injured the reputation of his 
brother, should be stripped of his habit ; he ought not to be 
allowed to raise his eyes to heaven, till he has restored what he 
has taken from him." 

St. Bonaventura says that St. Francis had as great a horror of 
detraction as of the bite of a serpent ; it is the comparison made 
by the Holy Ghost. "^ This is the way in which he spoke of it : 
" My brethren, the vice of detraction destroys the principle of 
piety ; it dries up the source of grace ; it is an abomination in the 
sight of God, who is infinitely good; because he who detracts 
nourishes himself with the blood of souls, which he kills with his 
tongue, as with a sword. Detractors resemble thieves and mur- 
derers, and are more cruel than these, because the love of Jesus 
Christ, which is fulfilled by charity, obliges us to be more zealous 
for souls than for the preservation of the body. What does a brother 
do, who murmurs against his brethren and against his superiors ? 
Nothing less than pour gall into the Order, which is his mother. 
Detractors are of the race of Cham, who, instead of covering 
what ought to have been hidden of his father, came and told his 
brothers where he had found him.f Thus, also, by detraction, 
they discover and exaggerate the faults of their brethren and su- 
periors, which draws down the malediction of heaven. Detractors 
root carefully into the defects of others, as swine into filth ; and, more 
unclean than those animals, they nourish their minds with what 
they find, or, perhaps, with what they invent By their continual 
complaints on all sorts of subjects, they are like dogs, that bark 
and bite on all sides, and gnaw the entrails of their neighbor." 

In the sequel of this discourse, the saint points out that those 
detractors, who constitute themselves censors of others, are hypo- 
crites, ambitious and cowardly flatterers ; they strive to appear 

* Eccl. X., II. t Genes, ix. 



^26 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

virtuous, without endeavoring to be so ; they bring accusations 
against the vicious, but do not correct their own vices ; they wish 
to be considered sp)iritual persons,* competent to give opinions on 
all subjects, and not to be themselves judged by any ; and they 
give pernicious praise to those from whom they hope to receive 
support, while they refuse just praise to those from whom they 
have nothing to expect. 

lliis vigilant pastor, being one day at prayer, saw the convent 
as if besieged by an army of devils, not one of whom could effect 
an entrance. But it so happened that one of the brethren, being 
greatly incensed against another, came to a resolution to injure 
him, by calumniating him, and then Francis saw one of the devils 
enter, who attacked the calumniator with great fury. Moved by 
the danger in which he saw the religious, he sent for him immedi- 
ately, and advised him to_ reject the poison of hatred which he 
nourished in his heart against his enemy. This friar, alarmed at 
having been discovered, acknowledged his fault, asked pardon 
and penance, and went and reconciled himself to his brother. 
The man of God saw the demon take to flight, and he told the 
religious he had seen this, who gave fervent thanks to God and to 
his father, and made a firm resolution not to give any more hold 
to so cruel an enemy. 

It was the custom of the holy founder, daily, to examine into the 
state of regularity of his convent. He permitted no relaxation to 
creep in ; whatever he found defective, he corrected. He often 
affixed rude and humiliating penances for trifiing faults, not only 
to keep up amongst his brethren a spirit of mortification, but to 
teach them to look upon all faults as great and considerable, as 
relative to the state of perfection into which they had entered. 

In the view of rendering them more perfect, he frequently 
counteracted the bent of their devotion. Brother Masse was a 



* Saint Paul says : '' The spiritual man judgeth all things, and himself is 
judged of no man.'' — I Cor. ii., 15. — The heretics of the last centuries have 
made a bad use of this text, in support of their fanaticism, as to the particular 
inspiration on points of faith ; this it is to which all the sects are cbHged to 
recur. But the first opinion which a spiritual man forms who follows the 
spirit of God, is, that he must believe all that the Church proposes to his 
belief, — that Church which the Holy Spirit gives to all the faithful, as their 
mother and mistress ; and this opinion is so certain, that no one can contro- 
vert it without falling into error. There are men, also, who affect spirituality, 
and who, under that pretence, take the liberty of judging others, but who are 
sensibly offended when others censure them. The words of the apostle can-* 
not justify them, for they do not purport that the spiritual man does not 
judge any one, but that he judges all things ; that is to say, that, if he is truly 
spiritual, he judges all things by the light he receives from the Holy Ghost. 
Those who are guided by the same Spirit do not blame him, because they act 
on similar princii)les ; but those who have not the Spirit of God, are' not 
capable of judging him. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 427 

veiy spiritual man, who was much attached to prayer. Francis, 
in order to try him, said to him one day, in presence of the others : 
'' Brother, these have received from God a greater gift of contem- 
plation than you have. For which reason, in order to give them 
more time to give themselves more freely to it, it seems proper 
that you, who seem more calculated for exterior duties, should 
have the care of the door and of the kitchen, and, if there is any 
time over, you will employ it in questing. Take great care that 
the strangers who may call, do not interrupt your brethren in their 
meditations. As soon as they may knock at the door, be there 
ready to receive them, satisfy them with fair words, and do every- 
thing which the others would have done, so that it shall not be 
necessary for any of them to make their appearance. Go in peace, 
and fail not in doing all these things, in order to have the merit of 
obedience." 

Masse, bowing his head, submitted to the order of his superior, 
without hesitation or murmur, and, during several days, he 
acquitted himself faithfully of what had been directed. His 
companions, who knew his virtue, and the love he had for prayer, 
had scruples at seeing him in these employments, and begged 
their father to permit them to share these duties with him. He 
assented, and, sending for Masse, said to him: ^'Brother, your 
companions wish to relieve and assist you, and I also wish that 
they may have a share in the labors." To which Masse replied, 
"Father, I consider as coming from God whatever duties you 
direct, whether in the whole or in part." St. Francis, seeing the 
charity on the one part, and the humility on the other, gave them 
an exhortation on these two virtues, and distributed the duties 
among them, with his blessing. 

What he had ardently desired for himself, and what he was 
rejoiced to see some of his brethren look forward to most anxiously, 
was the perfection which consists in suffering martyrdom : in shed- 
ding one's blood for the faith. As he could not obtain this favor, and 
as it was only granted to a few of his brethren during his lifetime, 
he endeavored to make up for it by another species of martyrdom, 
which, as St. Bernard says,* is indeed less cruel than the first, 
but which its duration renders more bitter. It is the martyrdom 
of mortification, and principally that of voluntary poverty. In 
fact, this poverty, as he compelled its observance, not only placed 
him and his brethren in the most humiliating situation in the 
eyes of the world, but deprived them, moreover, oi^ all the com- 
forts and conveniences of life ; exposed them to hunger, thirst, want 
of clothing, and various other annoying discomforts. All this, 
however, was not, in his view, the consummation of this description 



S. Bern, in cant, serni. ;o. n. ii. 



42 S S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

of mnrtvrdom. It was still further requisite to suffer patiently, 
in time of pain and sickness, the want of assistance, which poverty 
cannot command, to see the disease increase, and death about to 
follow, from want of necessary succor. 

His charity had taken all possible precaution for procuring 
assistance to the sick of his Order. He had directed that, if any 
of the brethren fell sick, the others should attend upon them, as 
they would wish to be themselves waited upon in like circum- 
stances, and with more affection than a mother has for a beloved 
son. Notwithstanding the great aversion he had to money, he re- 
quired that the superiors should make application to their spiritual 
iriends, to induce them to give some, in order to assist the brethren 
in their sickness. But, as he foresaw that this measure might not 
always be successful, and that poverty in such case would put it 
out of the power of the superiors to procure what was absolutely 
necessary for the sick, he pointed out to them what perfection 
called upon them to do. 

* ' If one of the brethren, in health or in sickness, finds him- 
self unable, through poverty, to procure what his absolute neces- 
sities require, provided he has humbly applied to his superior for 
them for the love of God, let him bear with the privation, for the 
love of Jesus Christ, who sought for consolation, but found none.* 
It is a suffering which will be in His sight a substitute for martyr- 
dom ; if this should even increase his disease, he must not fear 
being guilty of suicide, for he has done all he ought to have 
done, by applying humbly to his superiors. " The maxim is well 
grounded. St, Chrysostom f maintains, that to suffer generously 
the loss of his goods, as did holy Job, is a species of martyrdom. 
St. Bernaid J says the same thing of voluntary poverty, and 
remarks that, in the Beatitudes, a similar reward is promised to 
the poor and to martyrs. On those principles, is not a Friar 
INIinor to be looked upon as a martyr, who, having embraced the 
strictest poverty, for the love of Jesus Christ, would, rather than 
contravene it, endure with patience 'every evil, and even death, 
and would generously make to God the sacrifice of his health and 
of his life, in order to practise this virtue to his last breath ? St. 
Augustine § affirms that a Christian suffers martyrdom in his bed, 
when he declines procuring his cure by forbidden means : thus, a 
sick Friar Minor, who has not the necessary assistance, brought 
about by his having embraced poverty, according to the evangeli- 
cal counsel, is a martyr to poverty. Even supposing that it was 
less owing to poverty, than to the neglect or harshness of his 

* Psalm. Ixviii., 21 ; Isai. Ixiii., 5. 
t S. Chrys. in Epist. 2, ad Cor., homil. i in mor. 
t S. Bern. serm. 2, in Fest. (3mn. Sanct., n. 15. 
^ S. AiiL^ust. .scnn. 206, li. 7. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 429 

superior, that he was without assistance, he would equally have 
gained the crown promised to this description of martyrdom, 
since it would be as an evangelical pauper that he would suffer 
and die. But woe to that superior who should procure him such 
a crown ! He would be like to those who have made so many 
martyrs in the persecution of the Church. 

When St. Francis learnt that his brethren, by the sanctity of 
their lives, and by the efficacy of their preaching, brought back 
numbers of sinners into the paths of truth, and enkindled in 
their breasts the love of God, he said that such intelligence was 
to him as most pleasing odors and precious perfumes, by which he 
was wholly embalmed ; and, in his spiritual joy, he loaded these 
holy and edifying religious with the most ample benedictions. 
On the other hand, he fulminated dreadful maledictions against 
such as dishonored religion by their conduct. " Most holy Lord," 
would he say, ''may those who overthrow and destroy by their 
bad example what Thou incessantly raisest up by the saintly 
brethren of the Order, be accursed by Thee and by the whole 
celestial choir, and also by me. Thy little servant." 

Any scandal given to little ones gave him so much affliction 
and heartsore, that he often might have died of it, if God had 
not supported him by interior consolations. One day, when he 
was suffering extreme grief on a subject of this nature, and was 
praying the Father of Mercies for his children, St. Bonaventura 
informs us that he received the following answer: *'Pcor little 
man, why do you disquiet yourself.? Because I have appointed 
you the pastor of this religion which I have established, are you 
unmindful that I am its prmcipal protector ? I gave you the direc- 
tion of it, to you who are a simple man, in order that what I should 
do through you might be attributed, not to human industry, but 
to my favor. It is I who called those who have entered it ; I will 
preserve them, and provide for their wants ; I will substitute others 
for those who will die off; I will cause some to be born, in order 
to come into it ; and whatever may occur to shake this religion, 
which is founded on strict poverty, I will supply it by grace, so 
that it shall be always upheld." Up to this day, the world has 
seen the verification of this prophecy. The Order of Friars Minors 
has been powerfully attacked, and has still many enemies ; never- 
theless, it still subsists. 

It is with respect to this Order and to others, as it is with the 
entire Church : there will always be in it some perfect and some 
defective, some strong and some weak. This is what was com- 
municated to Brother Leo in a vision which he had when he was 
standing by the bed of St. Francis, who was in his last moments. 
In an ecstasy he saw many religious of the Order, who were endeav- 
oring to piss a large and dcei) river, by a ford. Soin.\ who luJ, 



43^ 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



heavy burdens, were drowned, either on the brink, or farther on. 
or in the middle, according as their burdens were heavier or Hghter. 
This scene grieved him sorely, but he had the consolation of seeing 
others, who had no burdens, who got across the river quickly, and 
without danger. When he recovered from his ecstasy, the holy 
invalid asked him what he had seen ; and Brother Leo having 
related his vision,- Francis explained it thus: ''The river is the 
world ; the religious who bear burdens are those who, neglecting 
their profession, and violating the rules of evangelical povert}', have 
a longing for the things of the earth ; and by that they are lost in 
this world, and will suffer just punishments in hell. Those who 
have passed through the river without danger, are those religious 
who, refusing to have any communication with the world, are con- 
tented with being poorly clad and fed, follow Jesus Christ naked, 
and have to earn' only the yoke of the Lord, which is sweet, and 
the burden, which is light.* 

To animate his brethren to perfection, he employed example, 
rather than precept When he imposed punishments, if they 
appeared to him to be too severe, he took them also on himself. 
Having sent Brother Ruffinus to preach at Assisi without his hood, 
because he had sought to be excused from preaching, he reflected 
on the severit}' of this order, and went himself to the church where 
Ruffinus was preaching. The latter having left the pulpit to give 
it up to Francis, he began his discourse, and instilled into his audi- 
ence so much compunction, that it was evident that God had blessed 
the obedience of the disciple and the example of the master. 

This admirable preceptor taught no virtues which he did not 
himself practise in an eminent degree : and as those which are ex- 
terior make the greatest impression, he practised extreme austerit}", 
in order that the others should imitate him. Having noticed, on 
a certain occasion, that some of his brethren had relaxed from the 
extreme povertv' of their nourishment, he thus slyly reprimanded 
them : " My brethren may well believe that, with so infirm a body 
as mine is, I require better nourishment than what I get, but I am 
obliged to be their model in ever}-thing ; for which reason I pro- 
pose to give up ever}' alleviation, and to cast aside, with disgust, 
everything resembHng delicacy ; to be satisfied with little in ever}'- 
thing ; to make use of those things only which are the commonest, 
vilest, and most conformable to strict povert}'."' 

Being in a hermitage in some mountains, in mid-winter, when 
the weather was rigorously cold and severe, his companions pre- 
pared a habit for him, in which they lined the breast, to make it 
somewhat warmer for him, but he made them take this out, 
saying: ''I am placed here to give example to others; my life 

* Matt, xi., ^o. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 43 1 

must be their rule. I know that there is no harm in wearing a 
warmer habit in the state 1 am in, but I see many of our brethren 
who require it as much as I do, and who could not get it. I 
must therefore bear this poverty with them, and not differ from 
them in anything, lest it should be thought that I take greater 
care of myself than of the others. They will more willingly bear 
the privation of these wants, when they shall see that I voluntarily 
go without them." His three companions, the writers of his life, 
observed that he refused his body the most lawful indulgence, in 
order that his children should be ashamed of taking those which 
were less so ; and that his maxim was, always to give instruction 
more by example than by discourse. 

He recommended his brethren, also, to preach by example, and, 
farther on, we shall see some beautiful sentiments in his maxims, 
relative to preaching, Rodriguez, of the Society of Jesus, an ex- 
cellent master of spiritual life, mentions,* on this subject, a lesson 
which our saint gave to one of his religious, which we give here, 
in the very words of the talented academician, f who translated the 
Practice of Christian Perfection, of the pious author. St, Francis, 
taking one day one of his religious with him, ''Let us go and 
preach," said he; and thereupon he went out, and after having 
made a tour round the town, he returned to his convent. ''But, 
father," said his companion, " are we not going to preach V " We 
have done so already," replied the saint. It was the religious 
reserve which they had used in walking through the streets, 
which he considered to be an excellent sermon for the whole 
town. And, in fact, a mortified and humble exterior leads the 
people to piety and a contempt of the world, and excites to com- 
punction for sin, and to raising the heart and desires to heavenly 
objects. It is a mute exhortation, which has often more effect 
than the most eloquent and sublime sermons. 

To example and precept, the holy patriarch added frequent and 
fervent prayers for the spiritual advancement of his children ; well 
knowing that neither he who plants, nor he who waters, contrib- 
utes to the fruit which the tree bears, but that the interior virtue 
which fructifies, comes from God. J In fine, in order not to be 

* This anecdote has not been found among the authors of the Order, but 
It is very characteristic of St. Francis. Besides Wading, who made an 
exact ] ercjuisilion into tlie actions and sayini^s of the blessed patriarcli, admits 
that he has not collected all, and expresses his hopes to be al)le to make fresh 
discoveries. — Opusc. S. Franc, pp. 523, 524. 

t This translation is by the Abb^ Regnier des Marais, of the French Acad- 
emy, whose writings on all subjects are very good, but who has excelled 
in tliis translation. The Practice of Christian Perfection, 2d tPart, 2d 
Treatise, on Modesty and on Silence, cap, i, page 120 in quarto; or page 155 
of the third vol. of the new edition, with augmentations, in 6 vols. iSmo, 
which has been printed by Seguin the elder. t I Cor. iii.. 7. 



432 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 



wanting in anything which might be in his power, when his 
infirmities absolutely prevented hrs watching over the conduct of 
his children, he unceasingly exhorted the superiors to fulfil this 
duty with exactness, and he enforced it by the following powerftil 
motive : that, if one of the brethren should be lost by their fault, 
ihev would be accountable for him to Jesus Christ at the day of 
judgment He gave them to understand by that, that, after 
having been the cause of the loss of souls, they had nothing more 
to expect from Him who had redeemed them with His blood. 
The superiors, indeed, should often meditate on what St Paul says : 
*'They who are established to govern, must watch as being to 
render an account for souls ; '" * that is to say, that their dut}' is to 
watch, that their ministr}- requires this vigilance ; and these words 
which the Lord addresses to the pastors of Israel, by the mouth of 
the prophet Ezechiel : *' If the just man shall turn away from his 
justice, and shall commit iniquit}', "*" * he shall die, because thou 
hast not given him warning, * * but I ^\-ill require his blood at 
thy hand, ''fare principally meant for the heads of companies, for 
those who lord it over others by dignities, by authorit}*, if, by their 
bad example, by negligence, or by weakness, they introduce or 
uphold relaxation. What will they say when God shall demand of 
them, as of the city of Jerusalem, after all Juda had been trans- 
ported to a foreign land : * * Where is the flock that was given thee, 
that beautiful flock ? What wilt thou say when He shall visit thee ? 
for thou hast taught them to fight against thee, and instructed them 
against thy own head " .^ J *' Let negligent pastors listen to this," 
exclaims St Jerome, * ' those who, instead of protecting their flock, 
teach the de\-iis to wony- them cruelly." § 

The ardent zeal which animated St Francis in procuring the 
perfection of his brethren, comported in him with the tenderest 
feelings of charity ; he always spoke to them mildly, affectionately, 
and impressively. If he censured them, it was not as a judge, but 
as a father, without irritation, without raising his voice ; with that 
tranquillit}- of manner, which showed at once the extent of his 
understanding, and the calmness of his heart The apostolical 
authorit}- with which he was invested, and the paternal affection 
he manifested, conciliated so entirely the veneration and love of 
his children, that they obeyed him punctually in all things, and 
they even met his wishes the moment they became aware of them. 

If any one of them was tempted to quit the Order, he used 
ever}- effort to retain him ; and, when the spirit of repentance 
brought such an one back, he received him most mercifiilly. One 
of these asked his leave to quit ; the saint replied that he neither 



n 



* Hebr. xiii., 17. t Ezech. i:i.. 20. 

♦ Terem. xiii., 20, 21. v> S, Hier. in cap. xiii., Jerera. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 433 

could nor ought to grant such a permission. He explained to him 
the misery to which he would expose himself, by taking such a 
step ; that it would be to give up heaven for the sake of the world, 
and for man, Jesus Christ Himself, who had suffered so greatly 
for the love of us, insomuch that all the labors and sufferings in 
the religious state are insufficient to mark our gratitude for it. 
This religious was so violently tempted, that he remained inflex- 
ible in his bad purpose. He addressed himself to Cardinal 
Hugolin, the protector of the Order, and to the Pope : the one 
and the other having refused his request, he threw off his habit, 
and went away. He was not far from the convent, when a man 
whom he met said, in a tone of contempt, "Wretch, whither art 
thou going V " What business is it of yours whither I am going ? " 
replied the other in a passion, '' and why do you meddle in this } " 
The man showed his feet, his hands, and his side, in which there 
were wounds fresh and bleeding, and said, at the same time : 
*' You may judge from these wounds, which I suffered on the cross 
for love of you, how much I am concerned in what you are doing. 
After such a mark of love, and such goodness, do you carry your 
ingratitude so far as to forsake me for a perishable and worthless 
world } " The affrighted fugitive, penetrated by this scene, and 
by the words addressed to him, prostrated himself at the feet of 
Jesus Christ, and humbly asked forgiveness of his fault. He then 
went to seek for Francis, who received him with kindness, and 
desired him to keep before his eyes, as long as he lived, the signal 
favor done him by this marvellous apparition. He profited so 
effectively from it, that he became quite perfect, and died in the 
odor of sanctity. 

Another, who wished to go into his own country, to see his 
parents, asked permission of his superiors for this purpose, and 
set out without having obtained it. He was not long on his way 
before he found himself overpowered with sleep. He sat down 
under a tree, and, in sleeping, he saw Francis, who, reprimanding 
him severely, urged him to return. As he obstinately refused, the 
saint gave him some sharp blows, which woke him, and he found 
the marks of them on his body. This correction having brought 
him to his senses, he returned to the convent, and related what 
had happened to him, and showed the proofs of it. The severity 
of the father, which had no other groundwork but kindness to 
the individual, was very salutary to his disciple. 

The tenderness of his heart was most observable towards those 
who were weak, or suffering from temptations. He pitied their 
afflictions, as a mother would have done, and procured them all 
the consolation in his power. One of his disciples, having come 
to beg his prayers, that he might not succumb to a violent tempta- 
tion against purity, ''My son,'' he said, *Mo not lose confidence, 



434 



S. FRANCIS OF ASS IS I. 



and be not discouraged, as if you were worse than others, be- 
cause the devil tempts you ; it is, on the contrary, for that very 
reason that you should believe yourself to be a servant of God. 
No one becomes perfect in his service, without having suffered 
these sorts of tribulations. If any one boasts of not having any 
to endure, he should know that God permits this, to assist his weak- 
ness ; for God is faithful,* and will not suffer us to be tempted f 
above our strength. He seldom exposes to great struggles any 
but those who are of perfect virtue.'' 

A spiritual and interior temptation of a more malignant char- 
acter than a temptation of the flesh, had for a long time assailed 
another of his disciples, who threw himself at his feet, and opened 
the cause of his suffering to him. The good shepherd raised up 
his feeble sheep, took him in his arms, and knowing, by a super- 
natural revelation, the anguish he was in, said, compassionately, to 
him : ''My son, be not afraid; this will only be the means of 
giving you an increase of grace." And then, raising his voice, 
and speaking authoritatively, he addressed these words to the 
demons: '' Evil spirits, I forbid you making any further attack 
upon this brother of mine.'' The temptation immediately ceased, 
and the religious felt himself freed. Can it be thought surprising 



* Cor. X., 13. 
t This is grounded on a principle laid down by Saint Augustine and by the 
Council of Trent: '*God commands nothing which is impossible ; but, in 
commanding, He warns us to do all we can, and to ask for what we cannot 
do, and he grants His aid, in order to enable us to fulfil His command/' 
From whence it follows that, since it is His will that we should resist tempta- 
tions, He furnishes us, when necessary, the requisite aid for overcoming 
them, commanding us, also, not to presume on our own strength ; to address 
ourselves to Him, and faithfully to respond to His grace. — S. August. De 
Nat. et Grat., cap, xlviii; Cone. Trid., sess. 6, cap. xi. — In consequence of 
this orthodox doctrine. Pope Innocent X., by his Constitution of the last 
day of May, 1653, declared the following proposition, which is the first of 
five taken from the book of Jansenius, to be rash, impious, blasphemous, and • 
heretical, and he anathematizes it : '* Some commandments of God are im- 
possible to the just, even when they are willing, and strive to accompHsh 
them, according to the strength they have actually, and the grace by which 
these commands might be rendered possible to them.'' On the same princi- 
ble, the Faculty of Theology, of Paris, in the General Assembly, held at the 
Sorbonne, on the last day of January, 1556, and confirmed on the first day of 
February, of the same year, declared the second proposition contained in the 
second letter written by Arnauld, doctor of Sorbonne, to a Duke and Peer of 
France, expressed in the following terms, to be rash, impious, blasphemous, 
heretical, and anathematized it : *' Nevertheless, my Lord Duke, this great 
truth, grounded on the Gospel, and attested by the fathers of ^the Church, 
who show us a just man, in the person of S. Peter, to whom grace, without 
which we are not equal to anything, had been wanting, at a time when it 
cannot be said he did not sin, has become all at once the Calvinistic heresy, 
if we are to believe the disciples of Molina." This letter had been published 
at Paris, in Arnauld's name, in the year 1655. 




S. FRANCIS. OF ASSISI. 435 

that God gives the power of commanding the vile spirits to such 
eminent charity? 

There was one who had a ver}^ timid conscience, and was con- 
stantly agitated by scruples : Francis censured him in the first 
instance, paternally, for not treating with contempt, and with more 
courage a*hd severity, the artifices which the devil made use of 
for his annoyance. He then ordered him not to take any notice 
of those things which caused him such heavy scruples, and not 
to plague himself by confessing them, and thus get rid of the 
confusion, which is the consequence of entering into those ex- 
planations to several confessors. ^^And, moreover," he added, 
**I believe that, unless some consent has been given, it is advan- 
tageous for the conscience that these vain suggestions should not 
be made the subject of confession, which I think in your case, 
in particular. " The religious followed this salutary advice, and he 
found it of so much utility that, although he continued to have a 
timid conscience, he was no longer troubled with scruples. 

Theologians and the masters of spiritual life have given the 
same remedy, in cases of scruples. If it was extensively used, there 
would not be so many persons, devotees and religious, to tire 
their confessors by useless declarations as to bad thoughts which 
come across them, and as to sins, which they imagine themselves 
to have committed, because they do not distinguish between 
involuntary thoughts and formal assent. 

There are also other remedies which are given for the' disease 
of scruples ; but the most efficacious, in the opinion of St. Anton- 
inus, Gerson, and other theologians, is for a scrupulous person to 
go alwa3^s to the same confessor, and submit implicitly to his viev/, 
and practise literally whatever he prescribes, being fully convinced 
that he cannot sin while so doing. Without this obedience, the 
evil is incurable, and may have the worst consequences, both for 
the body and soul. Let such, then, imitate the Friar Minor, who 
obeyed St. P^rancis and was cured. 

However, the advice the saint gave this Friar Minor must not 
be abused : that of not confessing vain suggestions, which bring on 
scruples ; because this has relation to souls who are purely scrupu- 
lous, who, having a horror of sin, endeavor seriously to be virtuous. 
But as for those persons who are tepid and indifi'erent, who form 
for themselves a conscience favorable to the dispositions of their 
heart, and treat as scruples the confession of certain thoughts and 
certain actions, which are, at least, of a very equivocal nature; 
these persons have reason to fear that, what they consider as 
nothing, and do not mention in confession, may, perhaps, be what 
God reckons as sins, which ought to be confessed with great 
exactness. 

St. Francis, being ill at Assisi, cured a spiritual wound of a more 



436 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

serious nature than that of a scruple. One of his children, named 
Ricer, of Bologna, provincial in the Marches of Ancona, a man of 
a very saintly life, had taken it into his head, at the suggestion of 
the devil, that the partriarch hated him, because he knew that he 
was to be damned, and he came to Assisi, in the hopes that this 
thought would be dissipated, if the saint should receive him 
kindly. The saint, who had a revelation as to the state of his 
mind, and of his arrival at Assisi, said to Brothers Masse and Leo, 
''Go and meet Brother Ricer, embrace him, and kiss him from 
me, and tell him that, among all my brethren in the world, I love 
him the most tenderly/' They executed the commission given 
them, and Ricer found himself strengthened in his faith, and filled 
with joy, and thanked God for the happy success of his journey. 
As soon as he appeared, Francis, weak as he was, ran to him, and, 
embracing him, said, with paternal affection : ' ' Ricer, my dear 
son, you are, among all our brethren, he whom I love from the 
bottom of my heart;" and, after having made the sign of the cross 
upon his forehead, he gave him several kisses, and then added : 
*' Ricer, my dear child, this temptation was visited upon you for 
your greatei good. But if you do not choose to be a gainer at 
this price, you will henceforward suffer' no more from this temp- 
tation, nor from any other ; " and, from that time, he never had 
another. 

The authors who mention this anecdote, say that Ricer was 
strengthened in his faith at the moment that the companions em- 
braced him from St. Francis, because the temptation which induced 
him to think he was to be damned, attacked his faith, i. Faith 
teaches us * that neither reprobation nor predestination can be 
known, except by revelation : now, there was no solid ground for 
believing that the saint had received any communication from 
heaven, relative to Ricer. 2. The Church teaches us "f* that, ac- 
cording to Catholic faith, all those who are baptized, must believe 
that Jesus Christ gives them such aid as is necessar)^ for the accom- 
plishment of all that is requisite for salvation, if they are willing 
to labor faithfully for its attainment ; consequently, that He died 
for them, J and that God desires that they should be saved. 3. St 



-^ * Eccles. ix., I. 

t These words are found in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Second Council 
of Orange, which has been received by the whole Church. 

t The Abbe Tournely proves clearly from texts of the Holy Scripture, from 
the Councils which have condemned the predestinarian heretics, from the 
doctrine of the Council of Trent, from the Constitutions of Popes Innocent 
X. and Alexander VII., who condemned the fifth proposition of Jansenius as 
inipious and heretical, from the authority of the holy fathers, and particu- 
larly from that of Saint Augustine, that every faithful is bound to believe 
that God desires his salvation, and that Jesus Christ died for him.— Prcelect, 
Theol. de Deo, torn, i, qucest. 17, art. 10, concl. 2, pag. 321. et seq. 



n 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 437 

Augustine * lays it down as certain, that God does not abandon 
those who are once justified by His grace, if He be not first aban- 
doned ; and the Council of Trent f has adopted the same truth, 
using the very words of the holy doctor. 

This, then, is sufficient to allay the anxiety of such of the faith- 
ful whose minds may be made uneasy on the subject of predestina- 
tion, in consequence of certain passages of the Holy Scriptures, 
of some expressions of the holy fathers, and of some theological 
opinions. In fact, since it is clearly revealed, and the Church 
obliges us to believe, that Jesus Christ died for us ; that God de- 
sires our salvation ; that He gives us the means to work this out, 
and that He is not the first to abandon us, — we must absolutely 
conclude, in the first place, that whatsoever may be in the Scrip- 
tures apparently opposed to these truths, does not counteract them, 
but may be reconciled to them, because truths cannot be in 
opposition to each other. In the second place, the holy fathers, 
on those points on which the Church receives their testimony as 
the channel of tradition, can have said nothing contravening these 
truths. In the third place, the Church only allows in the schools 
diversities of opinion on the subject of the mystery of predestina- 
tion, inasmuch as they are in accordance with these same truths, 
to which we must always recur. 

Theological systems which should depart from these truths, 
would no longer be simply systems, but confirmed heresies, which 
the Church would condemn, as it has already condemned them. 
If there are some opinions in the Catholic schools which it seems 
difficult to understand, and the explanations of which are unsatis- 
factory, it must be attributed to the weakness of the human mind, 
which must speak very imperfectly of what God has not revealed, 
and as to which we must exclaim with St. Paul : ^'O the depth 
of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God ! '' J We 
must not, however, blame the theologians, for they are in some 
measure compelled by the blasphemies of the heretics, '^to elevate 
themselves to what is inaccessible, to explain what is ineflable, 
and to do what is not permitted to be done."§ These are the 
words of St. Hilary, writing, on the mystery of the Most Holy 
Trinity, against the Arians. 

After all that St. Augustine had written against the Pelagians, 
and the Semi-Pelagians, he addressed the faithful in these consol- 
ing words : ''You must daily ask the Father of Light, from whom 
comes every good and perfect gift, || the grace of perseverance in 
His obedience, and have confidence that, in so doing, you will 



* S. Aug. (ie Nat. and Grat., cap. xxv., et alibi. 

t Cone. Trid., sess. 6, cap. ii. t Rom. xi., 33. 

i S. Hilary dc 'rriii.. lib. ii., m. 2. || Januvs i., 1^7. 



438 



S. FRA^'CIS OF ASSIST. 



obtain His predestination ; * * * for He directs you to place your 
hopes in Him.'*'* God has hidden from us the mystery of pre- 
destination, in order to humble us, and to compel us to perpetual 
watchfulness ; and this is the reason why the Council of Trent f 
says, that no one can be perfectly sure of persevering to the end, 
and of being of the number of the predestined ; but it adds, in 
the idea of St. Paul, J that all should entertain a firm reliance on 
the assistance of God, who will complete and make perfect the 
good work He has begun, giving them the will and means to put 
it in force, unless they themselves be wanting to His grace. Now, 
as we have every reason to fear this being w^anting, the same Council 
cautions us, according to the words of the apostles, and of St. 
Augustine, § to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling ; 
because, not having it in our power either to will or to do good 
for heaven, unless by the aid of grace, we must be fearful of be- 
coming unworthy of it, by our negligence or by our pride; and, 
moreover, because God may justly call us out of this world as soon 
as we may have committed a mortal sin. On the part of God, 
there is great confidence of our salvation ; on our part, great room 
for fear : the one and the other should induce the practice recom- 
mended by St. Peter : "Wherefore, brethren, labor the more, that 
by good works you may make your calling and election sure, for, 
doing these things, you shall not sin at any time ; " || that is to say, 
you will not fall into any considerable faults, which shall cause 
you to fall from your vocation, and from your election. 

May it please the Divine mercy that the temptation of a disciple 
of St. Francis, on this head, may serve to instruct and console 
such pious persons who are suffering under similar temptations, 
and to disabuse those who, misconceiving the sense of the Scrip- 
tures, of the fathers, and of theologians, are afraid that God does 
not sincerely wish to save them, will not afford them the means, 
and may even abandon them, although they may make every 
exertion to serve Him : which feelings are not only heretical and 
impious, but are the source of licentiousness, and the principle 
of despair. 

The holy patriarch had so tender a love for his brethren, that 
he could not bear that a shade of sorrowfulness should pass over 
their minds, lest they should lose their spiritual joy. " My dear 
brethren,'*' he said to them, ''entertain interiorly and exteriorly 
the holy joy which God gives. When His servants seek to obtain 
and preserve this spiritual joy, which has its source in purity of 
heart, in the fervor of prayer, and in other virtuous practices, 

* S. Angus, de Dono Persev., cap. xxxii., n. 62. 

+ Cone. Trid., sess. 6,capp. xii., xiii. t ^h\\. i., 6. 

^ Phil, ii., 12, 13 ; S. Aug. de Nat, et Grat., cap. xxvii.. n. 31, et cap. x \xii., 
n. 36; De Corrcpt. et Grat., cap. ix., n. 24. . \\ 2 Peter, \., 10 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 439 

the devils can do them no injury ; and they say : ^ We can do no 
injury to these servants of God ; we have no entry to them ; they 
are always joyfu], whether in tribulation or prosperity/ But they 
are highly gratified when they can deprive them of this happy 
temper of mind, or, at least, lessen its intensity ; because, if they 
can succeed in instilling any of their own venom into them, they 
will soon turn what has only the breadth of a hair into a beam, 
by adding something by little and little, unless we endeavor to 
destroy their work by the virtue of prayer, of contrition, of con- 
fession, and satisfaction. For this reason, my brethren, since 
spiritual joy comes from purity of conscience and the frequent 
exercise of fervent prayer, labor principally to acquire these two 
blessings, in order that you should possess it ; I am very anxious 
to see it in you, and to feel it in myself. It is for the devil and 
his satellites to be sorrowful ; but as to us, we can always rejoice 
in the Lord. '' 

Although the holy man had occasionally reason to be sorrowful, 
in consequence of the temptations to which he was exposed, or 
from the fear of the pains of hell, arising from the remembrance of 
his sins, yet he was ever gay. He was one day asked the reason 
of this, and he gave this answer: ''My sins sometimes, indeed, 
make me very sorrowful,* and Satan would wish to imprint this 
sadness on me, in order to make me fall into slothfulness and 
weariness ; but when that occurs, I look on my companion : the 
spiritual joy I see in him, renews mine, and the temptation passes 
off. My joy is a torment to the devils, for they envy me the 
favors I receive from God. I know and see that, when they can- 
not injure me by making me sorrowful, they endeavor to strip 
their spiritual joy from my companions, and, if they cannot suc- 
ceed either with them or with me, they retire in confusion.'' 

We must notice, in this answer of the holy father, two sorts of 
sorrow : the one arising from the anguish caused by sin, of which 
St. Paul says, that "it is according to God, and works penance 
unto salvation." f This does not do away with spiritual joy; on 
the contrary, it produces it : nothing is sweeter, or more consol- 
ing, than the tears shed from the impulse of sincere contrition. 
The other sorrow is a depression of spirits, brought about by the 
devil, who endeavors to render us tepid and sluggish, to give us a 
disgust for pious exercises, and to induce us to give them up. A 
good conscience causes spiritual joy. No one has truly cause to 
rejoice, but he who is well with God faithful to His law, and 



* This, then, must have been before God liad revealed to him that his sins 
had been entirely remitted, nnd that he would enjoy eternal life. At least, 
the sorrow which they caused him after these two revelations, could not have 
been ncconipanii-d by any fears of (he pains of hell. 

t 2 ( (T. vii., 10. I I'lov. \v., 45. 



440 S. FRAXCIS OF ASS15I. 

submissive to His will. A tranquil mind, free and disengaged 
from the UTanny of the passions, is, in the opinion of Wisdom, a 
continual feast.* It is true happiness : '' Fora happy life is noth- 
ing more," says St Augustine, t ** than the joy which is found in 
truth : that is, in God, who is truth, the sweet light of our souls, 
our salvation and our repose." Therefore Da\id J excites the just 
of Israel to manifest their joy, and St Paul said to the Christians :§ 
** Rejoice always in the Lord; I say again, rejoice. What 
constitutes the kingdom of God is the justice, peace, and joy, 
which come from the Holy Spirit" 

This disposition of the heart enables it to resist the e\-il spirit, 
according to the words of Esdras to the Jewish people : "The joy 
of the Lord is our strength." || What can the e\il spirit do against 
a soul whose sole pleasure is to serve God, who has no other 
solace than to love and praise Him ? There is, moreover, nothing 
which makes so great an impression on the people of the world, 
as witnessing the interior contentment of a truly good man, which 
is seen in the serenity of his countenance. This is, according to 
St Augustine. •" what compels them to admit that they themselves 
have not true joy, but that is reser\*ed for Gods sen^ants. What 
could have been said of St Francis and his brethren, ever gay and 
joyous, though worn down by austerities ? 

It was not alone by the ardor of his zeal, and the tenderness of 
his affection, that the holy founder led on his brethren, but by a 
wonderftil discretion and prudence in the government of his Order. 
Although he used every endeavor to induce his religious to live 
austerely, he, nevertheless, recommended them to be guided by 
moderation : and he did not countenance indiscreet penances. 

Brother Sylvester, the first priest in his Order, ha\ing fellen into 
an illness of languor, brought on by excess in his mortifications, 
had a wish to eat some grapes : Francis, having been informed of 
it. hastened to procure him this re/ef. He took him, as well as 
he could, into the \ineyard of one of his friends, which was near 
the convent, and, ha\ing made him sit do\s-n near a plant of \ine, 
he blessed it, and ordered him to eat the grapes, and ate some 
with him. As soon as the sick man had eaten of them, he found 
himself perfectly cured, and he frequently afterwards related the 
circumstance to his brethren, with tears in his eyes, as a proof of 
the love the holy father bore to his children ; it was, also, an effect 
of his discretion, for, disappro\'ing of Sylvester s excessive austerities, 
he chose that he should take this sort of remedy, which nature 
seemed to call for, and it pleased God to render this the subject of 
a miracle. 

* Prov. XV.. 15 t St, Aug., Conf., lib. lo. cap. xxiii, 

t Psalm xxxi.. 14. et abbi, passim. $ PhiL iv., 4; Rom. xiv., 17. 

I Esdr. viii.. 10. % S. Aug. in Pialm. xcvii., n. 19. 



I 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 44 1 

This prudent and charitable father came to know, one night, 
that one of his children who had fasted too rigidly, could not take 
repose, in consequence of the hunger which oppressed him. Not to 
leave him in so dangerous a state, he sent for him, offered him 
some bread, and pressed him to eat of it, eating some himself first, 
to give him confidence. The religious got over the shyness he at 
first felt, and took the nourishment he so greatly required, being 
well pleased to have been relieved from the peril his life was in, 
by the prudence and kindness of the saint, and to see so edifying 
an example. In the morning, Francis assembled his brethren, and 
having told them what had occurred in the night, '^Brethren," 
he said, ''take a precedent from this, not as to what I sate, but 
that I had recourse to what was charitable." Then he pointed out 
to them that virtue should always have discretion for its rule and 
for its guide ; not that discretion which the flesh inspires, but that 
which has been taught by Jesus Christ, whose most holy life is the 
finished model of all perfection. 

''Let each man," he continued, "have regard to his con- 
stitution. If some of you are strong enough to support life well, 
while eating very litde, I do not wish, on that account, that one 
who requires more nourishment, shall imitate them in this respect : 
such a one might give his body what is necessary for it ; for, as in 
eating, we are obliged to avoid whatever is superfluous, which is 
hurtful to the body and soul, so also we must guard against exces- 
sive abstinence, and the more so because the Lord requires mercy 
rather than sacrifice. This is what God says by the Prophet Osee,* 
which means that He prefers the practice of works of mercy to 
our neighbor, to the exterior exercise of religion ; and that this 
worship which must be rendered Him, is not pleasing to Him with- 
out mercy. Now, as we are commanded to love our neighbor 
with a love of charity, St. Thomas teaches us, as does St. Augus- 
tine,f that the same love obliges us to have a similar regard for our 
own body ; from whence it follows that, this charity not being 
found in immoderate abstinence, God does not approve of the 
sacrifice. To this we may add, that it is sometimes the devil who 
instigates a person to undertake immoderate fasting, in order to 
render that person incapable of spiritual exercises, and for other 
evil intentions." 

The holy founder cautioned his brethren to avoid excess in 
fasting, even more than excess in eating, because he knew that 
they were all animated by the spirit of mortification. Their fervor 
was so great that, in fasting very rigorously, they at the same time 

♦ Osee vi., 6. 
t S. Aug. do Doct. Clirist., lib. i, cap. xxvi; S. Thorn. 2*. 2*'. quest. 25, 

ait. 5. 



44 2 S. FRANXIS OF ASSI5I. 

wore iron girdles, coats of mail, coarse hair-shirts, and took severe 
disciplines, which brought on frequent illnesses. For this reason 
he often recommended discretion to them. '' My brethren,'*' he 
said, '' if a ser\'ant of God gives his body what is reasonable for its 
nourishment and for its repose, and that the body is nevertheless 
sluggish, lazy, sleepy at prayer, in watchings, and other good 
works, it 'must, then, be chastised, and treated as a horse that 
refuses to work, or an ass that won't go on, although they are well 
fed. But, if the body is deprived of its real wants, it is disabled 
from bearing the yoke of penance, and performing the functions 
required by the soul ; it has, then, ever}* right to complain/'' 

We shall, perhaps, be surprised that St. Francis, who preaches 
discretion so admirably to his brethren, should have carried his 
own "austerities to excess ; bnt we must bear in mind that he was 
a man, guided in all things by the Holy Spirit, in whom God was 
pleased to show the abundant riches of His grace, and whose pro- 
digious penitential exercises were to draw down an abundance of 
mercy on sinners. Thus, what appeared excessive in his mortifi- 
cations, arose from his perfect fidelity to the extraordinar}' impulse 
he received from above ; and this was true prudence. 

Fer\'ent persons are occasionally found who would wish to 
imitate the fastings and other austerities of the saints, but this is 
presumption, unless they are called thereto by God, and that this 
vocation has been well sounded and approved by legitimate author- 
ity. The general and safe maxim, in cases of austerities, is not 
to undertake anything extraordinar}*, without the consent of 
superiors and confessors. Before granting any permission of this 
nature, the constitution and character of the person must be care- 
fully examined, and inquir}' mmutely made whether the applicant 
practises regularly the ordinary mortifications, and if he is as 
zealous in controlling his passions, and acquiring the virtues 
requisite in his station, as for the maceration of his body ; for it is 
often found that those who solicit extraordinary* penances, neglect 
those which are ordinar}' and common, and who, in mortif}'ing their 
bodies, do not take sufficient pains to purify their hearts, to become 
humble, obedient, mild, and charitable. 

The lessons which St Francis gave on the subject of discretion, 
are of no great use in the world. There, it is rather requisite to 
repeat these words of our Saviour : ''Be careful of yourselves, lest 
your hearts be weighed down by intemperance ; '' * and those of 
St. Paul: "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing 
to God. ' f Those even who endeavor to mortif}' themselves, often 
experience the truth of what the apostle says': "No man ever 
hated his own flesh, but nourisheth it, and' taketh care of It" J 

* Luke xxi., 24. f Rom. xii., I. \ Fphe.^. v., 29. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 443 

St. Augustine * found it very difficult to satisfy the wants of the 
body, without giving somewhat unto sensuality ; and he says that 
he had daily combats with temptations of that kind. St. Bernard f 
admits that we owe it to our body to preserve it in health ; but he 
adds that, on the score of health, sensuality lays dangerous snares 
for us, and that in so artful and subtle a manner, that it is difficult 
for us to preserve ourselves from them, and sometimes even to per- 
ceive them. We must, therefore, as St. Francis remarks, not have 
that false and dangerous discretion which is inspired by the flesh, 
and flatters the senses. 

It may not, perhaps, be believed that the holy patriarch carried 
his discretion and condescension even to the buildings and the 
habits, — he who advocated extreme poverty on these two articles. 
He had carefully recommended to his brethren to build only 
small, low houses, surrounded only by hedges, in remote and soli- 
tary situations ; but, as his own companions tell us, he admitted 
that in towns, and near towns, it was proper to act otherwise ; that, 
in consequence of the number of religious who were there for the 
service of the faithful, it was necessary to have the convent sur- 
rounded by walls. 

The multiplicity of vestments greatly displeased him ; he could 
not bear stuffs that were soft and downy ; he said J that coarseness 
and roughness in their habits were necessary for his Institute, and 
for preaching repentance. Nevertheless, besides allowing two tunics 
by the rule, and giving permission to wear shoes in cases of 
necessity, he enjoins the ministers to provide carefully for the cloth- 
ing of the other brethren, as they may deem it requisite, taking 
into consideration the time and place, and cold countries, and, 
for this purpose, to have recourse to their spiritual friends ; that is 
to say, as has been already remarked, to persons in good circum- 
stances, friends of the Institute, whom they may solicit to pay for 
the material which they may only receive as an alms. This was 
a measure to which he was greatly adverse, because of the dislike 
he had to money in any shape, and he only permitted it for the 
wants of the sick, and the clothing of the brethren ; and this is a 
proof of his discretion, which is shown even in the ardent love he 
had for poverty. It would be impossible to form a more correct 
idea of it than from this. 

His companions also say that he allowed those who required 
it, to wear a softer and warmer tunic ; on this sole condition, how- 
ever, that the outward garment should be very poor, to keep up 
the spirit of humility, by the contempt the world entertains for 
such as are poorly clothed. Finally, the same authors testify lliat, 

* S. August. Confess., lib. 10, cap. xxxi. 
t S. Bern, de Divin. serm. 6, n. 21. 
t Kej;. Fratr. Min., cnpp. ii. ct iv. 



II 



444 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

although he was ven^ austere from the moment of his conversion 
to his death, with a constitution ver}- dehcate and weak, yet he 
prudently moderated the austerities of his brethren ; and that many 
things which he rigidly refused himself, he allowed to the others, 
from discretion and from charity. This, indeed, is characteristic 
in the saints : severe and inflexible to themselves, they spared 
their neighbors, and were indulgent in their regard : while hypo- 
crites, such as the Pharisees, and certain heretics, who resemble 
them,* put heavy burdens on the shoulders of others, which they 
are unable to carr>' ; overwhelm with austerities those whom they 
direct, often for the most trifling faults, while they themselves live 
in comfort and at their ease. 

The discretion of St. Francis was apparent in every part of his 
conduct Bernard de Besse, one of the writers of his life, and 
secretar)' to St, Bonaventura, says that he never spoke to his 
brethren but in terms of moderation and mildness ; that he com- 
passionated the weak, and encouraged the young in the practice 
of virtue ; that he had great respect for old age ; that whatever 
faults a priest might commit, he never reprimanded him but in 
private ; in fine, that he had proper consideration for all those 
whose birth, merit, or dignity required it 

Brother Guy, who was beatified by the Holy See, and of whom 
we have before spoken, begged the saint to allow him to build a 
cell in the fissure of a rock which was opposite to the convent of 
Celles, near Cortona, in order that he might live there in great 
solitude, and give himself up to contemplation. Francis, who 
knew that Guy, although he was only in the no\itiate, had the 
virtue of the ancients, and would raise himself up to an eminent 
degree of sanctity, permitted him this peculiar retreat, but upon 
this condition, that it was not to prevent him fi-om attending all 
the offices said by the community, in order to preser\'e the 
uniformit}^ of the observance, and to obviate the illusion which 
might mix itself up with unusual practices. This was also what 
the saint himself practised : he quitted regularly his contempla- 
tion, to join in singing the praise of God in communit}'. 

One of the brethren asked him, in his last illness, why be had 
given up the government of the community, and why he allowed 
many things contrary- to what he had taught his first companions. 
The question was displeasing to him, but he gave this answer : — 

*' Some are surprised that I do not correct the defects which 
exist in the Order, and they wish to know the reason of it May 
God pardon them, for they oppose me ; they pretend to put a task 
on me which concerns me no longer. As long as I was the 
superior of my brethren, and that ihey continued firm in theii 

* Matt, xxiii., 4, 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 445 

vocation, I was sufficient for them by my example, by my exhorta- 
tions, and by my minute attentions, although, from the beginning 
of my conversion, I was very weak. But when I saw that God, 
had permitted them to increase in number, and that there were 
some whose fervor diminished, and who began to pursue other 
ways, without paying attention to my example or to the engage- 
ments they had entered into, I gave up the guidance of the Order 
to God and to the ministers. xAt the general chapter, I pleaded 
my infirmities, as the motive of renunciation ; however, if all my 
brethren had wished to conform to my views, and had also desired, 
for their benefit and consolation, not to have any other superior 
than myself until my death, I also would have wished it, on 
account of the advantage it would have been to them and to me. 
It, likewise, would give me so much pleasure that, even in the 
bed to w^hich illness would have confined me, I would have applied 
myself to everything which could have been satisfactory to them : 
there is no great trouble in guiding inferiors who are very sub- 
missive. The post of superior is an employment wholly spiritual, 
which consists, as to what respects evil, in preventing it, or in 
correcting it by example and by cautioning. If these be insuffi- 
cient, I will not have recourse to measures of rigor, as the powers of 
the world. I have, nevertheless, that firm confidence in God, that 
He who punishes in this world and in the next, by invisible enemies, 
will make use of them to punish lukewarm and sluggish brethren ; 
inasmuch as those who execute the Divine justice, will stir up 
worldlings to reproach them with their lukewarmness, and induce 
them, by the shame and confusion they will be made to feel, to 
return to their duty. As to myself, I shall not cease, to my last 
breath, to instruct them by my example, to advance in the path 
the Lord has pointed out to me, as I have already taught them by 
my actions and by my words. If they do not profit by this, they 
are inexcusable, and I shall no longer have to give an account of 
their conduct to God." 

The complaints of the saint regarded Elias, and some of the 
provincial ministers, who followed his spirit of relaxation in what 
regarded poverty. The remedy which it seemed feasible to adopt 
for the evil, was to depose Elias, and the ministers who were his 
adherents ; but, besides that the holy patriarch was lOO infirm to 
have it in his power to act, God had revealed to him that he was 
to place Elias as Vicar-General, and leave him in that situation. 
It was a surprising and impenetrable decree of Providence, but one 
which His servant was l)0und to adore, and act up to. In this 
situation, prudence did not permit him to do more than caution, 
exhort, threaten, give good example, and implore the aid of 
heaven. 

He said most truly, that worldlings are incited, by invisible 



446 S. FRANXIS OF ASSIST. 

enemies, to censure religious for their relaxations. In fact, gener- 
ally speaking, they are the most worldly who speak with greatest 
bitterness of the faults of religious persons, and we may well 
imagine that it is at the instigation of the devil ; for they only 
speak of these faults to spread them, and to disparage a state oif 
holiness, which, of itself, bears witness to the irregularity of a 
worldly life. They attribute to the whole Order whatever they 
deem blamable in any one of its members ; they magnify every- 
thing, and often fancy evil where none exists. The broachers of 
new opinions do the same, in respect to the religious, who expose 
and controvert their unsound doctrine, as the Friars Minors have 
done for the last six hundred years, and still do on all occasions. 
But what is only sheer malice in the devil, in worldlings and in 
heretics, must be considered, in the dispositions of Divine Provi- 
dence, as a means of making known to all religious that motives 
of decorum, of honor, and of edification, are joined to those of 
the love of God, and of their own salvation, to bind them faith- 
fully to fulfil the duties of their state of life. 

The earhest authors who wrote the life of St. Francis, have 
recorded one of his answers, which shows to what a degree he 
possessed the art of governing. They spoke to him one day of 
some of the provincial ministers, v/ho, animated with the spirit of 
Brother Elias, arrogated to themselves the government of the 
provinces, as a sort of hereditary tenure, and pretended to perpetu- 
ate themselves therein, so that they could not be brought back 
to the condition of an inferior, without giving them great ofience, 
and putting it in their power to give the community great trouble. 
*' Let them live as they like," the saint replied, angrily ; *^a time 
will come when they will repent it : the loss of some is a lesser 
evil than the loss of many. If it was attempted to depose these 
ministers, they would excite great disturbance, and that would 
be a scandal to the good religious, who now obey simply and 
peaceably. " 

Deposition is certainly what these provincials deserved, since, 
according to the maxims of the holy fathers, it is sufficient to 
take steps to attain ecclesiastical dignities, and even merely to 
wish for them, to be rendered unworthy to hold them. Moreover, 
to pretend to hold an office of right, and to keep it in perpetuity ; 
to take measures for always being in command, and never obeying, 
in a profession which is profoundly humble, is something abso- 
lutely monstrous. We must, nevertheless, admit that St. Francis 
was extremely prudent in not deposing these ambitious ministers, 
in order to avoid trouble and scandal. St. Augustine * says that 

^ S. August, contra Epist. Parmen., lib. iii., cap. ii., n. 13, et seq. et alibi. 
Matt, xiii., 29. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 447 

we should put up with certain evils, when they can only be 
remedied by a greater evil ; as in the case of the husbandman, who 
would not permit the tares to be eradicated, lest in so doing the 
wheat should be injured. Such is the course pursued by superior 
minds, who follow the instigations of prudence, and are guided by 
the principles of good government. Little minds, who are zeal- 
ous, and are in possession of authority, wish, at any cost, to do 
away with everything that is evil ; and, not satisfied with what is 
good, they insist upon having something better, without reflecting 
that amongst men there are inevitable evils which must be sub- 
mitted to patiently, and that sometimes, by indiscreetly insisting 
upon having what is better, the good itself is destroyed. 

These words of St, Francis on the governing provincials are 
very remarkable : '^ Let ttiem live as they like ; a time will come 
when they will repent of so doing ; " as if he had said : " I let 
them do this, because I cannot hinder them, and I have no hopes 
of converting them. They follow now the desires of their heart, 
but they will one day appear before God, and the sentence which 
will be passed upon them will be followed by a bitter, but fruitless, 
repentance." In fact, the pride which gives birth to ambition is 
one of those vices of the mind of which the prophet says, that ' ' it 
ascendeth continually;''* and St. Thomas says that it removes 
us extremely from God. This is the reason why the heretical inno- 
vators, who only dogmatize through pride, are seldom converted. 
The conversion of the ambitious is equally rare. Whenever pride 
induces them to love dignities and honors, they never cease Irom 
longing for them, to seek for them, and to flatter themselves that 
they are more deserving of them than any others, to procure them 
and retain them till their last moments. Now, if the Holy Ghost 
assures us that, in general, "2. more severe judgment shall be for 
them that rule ; that to him who is little, mercy is granted, but 
that the mighty shall be mightily tormented ; " f what a dreadful 
consideration is not this, in particular for those who acquire com- 
mand through ambition, to whom, what the Council of Trent says 
as to churches which are governed by bishops : *^They are oner- 
ous places, capable of making angels tremble." J It would be very 
useless to repeat in hell with those sinners of whom the wise 
man speaks : ''In what has our pride served us? All has passed 
over as a shadow." § 

The holy patriarch, being on his death-bed, was asked his opin- 
ion as to the qualifications which his successor ought to have, and 
he explained himself as follows : — 

''My dear children, I sec no one who has all these qualifications 



* Psalm Ixxiii., 24; 2". 2™. qiiesr. 73, art. 5. f Sap. vi., 6 ct 7 

t Cone. Trid., sess, 6, cnp. 1., dc Kcforni. § Snp. v., 8 cl 9, 



448 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

requisite for being the leader of so large an army, and pastor of 
so numerous and widely spread a flock. But 1 will draw a por- 
trait, from which you will see what sort of a person such a chief 
and such a pastor should be. 

*'He should be a man of serious character, ver}^ discreet, of 
good repute ; exempt from any particular attachments, lest the 
friendships he might have for some might give scandal to others. 
A man of prayer, devoted to this holy exercise, yet who so distrib- 
utes his time, that he may have certain hours for himself, and 
others for his flock. In the early morning he should offer up the 
holy sacrifice of the Mass, and employ a considerable portion of 
time in soliciting the protection of the Almighty for himself and 
for his flock, with the deepest sentiments of piety. After his 
prayers, let him receive all persons, and answer for all things, but 
let him make no distinction of persons, and let him pay as much 
attention to the most simple, as to the learned and wise. If he 
himself has the gift of knowledge, let him, nevertheless, be simple 
in his conduct, manifesting much patience and humility ; let him 
encourage these virtues in others, as well as in himself; let him 
continually exercise himself in them, and lead his brethren to their 
practice, more by his example than by discourse. 

''As to what concerns money, let him hold it in execration, for 
there is nothing that can sooner introduce corruption into our 
Order. Never let him make a bad use of any purse, he who is 
the head, and should be the model lo others. Let him be satis- 
fied with one habit for himself, with one book in which he may 
register the affairs of the Order, with one inkstand, and a seal to 
affix to the documents he may have to send out. He must not be 
anxious to collect many books, lest, in giving up too much time 
to reading, he should take too much from the duties of his office. 

'* Let his heart be full of compassion for the afflicted ; let him 
afford them eyery consolation, since he is their last resource : if he 
did not hit on some remedy for their miseries, weakness might 
throw them into despair. If he meets w4th insolent and unruly 
spirits, let him humble himself, in order to soften them ; and to gain 
their souls to Jesus Christ, let him give up some of his rights. 
The bowels of his compassion should be opened for such as have 
left the Order, as for sheep that have strayed, without ever refusing 
to treat them with mercy ; considering that the temptations which 
have led to such falls must have been \ery great, and that if God 
were to permit him to be similarly attacked, he might himself fall 
down a still greater precipice. 

*'I should also wish that all the religious should honor the 
general, as holding the place of Jesus Christ in their regard, and 
that they provide for all he may require, according to the decorum 
of our Institution. But he must not take pleasure in being so 



FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 449 

respected, nor care tor the honors which may be rendered him, no 
more than for the insuhs which may be offered him ; so that the 
honors shall not make any change in his character, unless, per- 
haps, for the better. In case his infirmities should require more, 
nourishing food than the rest of the community, let him not 
take it in private, but publicly, that the others may have no 
scruple of having recourse to similar indulgence, when their in- 
firmities may require it. 

''His principal employment is to penetrate into the secret of 
hearts, and to extract the truth from its most hidden recesses. In 
the first place, he must look with a suspicious eye on all accusa- 
tions, principally when those who bring those accusations forward 
are great talkers ; he must not be eager in listening to them, much 
less in believing them, unless, after careful investigation, it shall 
be found that the accuser has spoken truth. The strength of 
his mind should be such, that no desire to retain the place he 
fills should induce him to violate the rules of firm and inflexible 
justice, nor even to relax them in any degree ; but he must so 
order his decision, that excessive rigor shall not cause the loss of 
any souls, nor useless lenity, nor irresolute indulgence encourage 
tepidity, or enervate discipline ; thus, that he may make himself 
feared by all, and be beloved by those who fear him. All this 
must make him feel that his office is even more burdensome to 
him than honorable. 

''I also am desirous that the general may have very virtuous 
companions, enemies of all sensible pleasures, courageous in all 
difficulties, and full of compassion for those who have fallen into 
any errors. They should love all the others equally, nor receive 
anything for their labor but what is absolutely necessaiy to support 
life ; not longing for anything but the glory of God, the good of 
the Order, merit for their own souls, perfection and salvation for 
their brethren. They should be complaisant and obliging, and 
should receive with a holy joy all those who come to them, so 
that by purity and simplicity they may exhibit in their persons the 
model of evangelical observance, of which they make profession in 
the Rule of the Order. Such, then, should be the general and his 
companions." 

What they had asked the saint as to the general, gave him an 
opportunity of stating his wishes as to the provincials. '' My 
brethren," he said, ''it is my wish that the provincials should be 
mild and kind, even to the lowest ; and that they should have so 
much benevolence, that those who have fallen into lliults should 
have no hesitation or fear in casting themselves on their charity. 
I should also wish them to be very reserved as to giving orders, 
easy in pardoning offences, and more inclined to lend their aid 
((.sinners than to hxad them with censure; that thev should he 



450 S. FRAN'CIS OF ASSISI. 

declared enemies to vice, but that they should be as physicians to 
the vicious. In fine, I would wish them to be such, that their 
lives should be to the others a true image of regular discipline. 
But I require, also, that all the others should have for them great 
respect and affection, as for those who bear the weight, and anxie- 
ties, and labor of the community, believing them to be worthy of 
a great reward before God, if they govern on these principles/' 

Do we not see herein the exalted ideas which St. Francis en- 
tertained of every sort of perfection ; the great knowledge he had of 
the human heart, of morality, and government.!^ The penetra- 
tion, solidity, and even the delicacy of his mind, his discretion and 
his consummate prudence, in the midst of evangelical purity.^ 
We might imagine that he had read all that the holy fathers, and 
St. Gregory in particular, had written so forcibly on Christian 
morality. The portraits he puts before us may serve as lessons 
to all who have authority in the Church. There is no regular 
superior who will not find in it an excellent rule of conduct, and 
those of the Friars Minors must consider it as a special favor that 
God had been pleased to permit them to be instructed in theii 
obligations by their most holy patriarch himself 

We should be glad to put on record all his other instructions, 
which are not less sound, nor less spiritual ; but we must confine 
ourselves to those which he gave on learning and on preaching, 
with the last letter he addressed to the religious of his Order, shortly 
before his death. 

St. Bonaventura says that some of his religious asked him 
one day if he thought it proper that such persons as w^ere already 
learned, when they were admitted into the Order, should continue 
to study the Holy Scriptures .^^ To which he replied : *^This is very 
pleasing to me, provided they follow the example of Jesus Christ, 
whom we find to have prayed more than He seems to have read, 
and do not neglect the exercise of prayer ; and provided they do 
not study so much to learn what they are to speak, as to practise 
what they have learnt, and to induce others to practise it also. I 
wish my brethren to be disciples of the Gospel, and that they 
should progress in the knowledge of truth, at the same time that 
they increase in simple-mindedness ; thus joining, according to 
the method of our Divine Master, the simplicity of the dove to the 
prudence of serpents." * 

A novice, to whom the Vicar-General had allowed the particular 
use of a Psalter, came to solicit Francis' confirmation of this per- 
mission, and this is the reply he got : ''Charlemagne, Orlando, 
and other great captains, rendered themselves illustrious by 
their exploits ; the martyrs are celebrated in the Church by their 

* Matt. X.. 16. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 45 1 

sufferings and death ; but there are others who aspire to glory by 
the sole reading of the feats of these persons. " The saint intended 
to give him to understand that no one is estimable unless by his 
actions and conduct, and that there is nothing more vain than a 
reputation grounded on fruitless science. 

The novice, who did not rightly understand the drift of the 
answer he had received, came back, some days after, to ask again for 
the Psalter, when Francis said to him : "When this shall have 
been granted to you, you will next want a Breviary, and then other 
books ; then you will ascend the pulpit as a great doctor, and you 
will imperiously require to be served by your companions/' His 
zeal excited him — he took some ashes, and, rubbing the novice s 
forehead with them, he repeated several times, with great animation : 
'' A Psalter for me ! a Psalter for me ! " and, for the instruction of 
the young man, who was in great astonishment, he added : *' My 
brother, I also was tempted as you are, on the subject of books. 
In order to know the will of God, I had recourse to prayer, and I 
opened the book of the Holy Gospels, in which I found this sen- 
tence : ' To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of 
God ; but to the rest in parables." * The application he made of 
this was, that the truths of the Gospel are better known by those 
who practise them, than by those who know them, and do not put 
them in practice. From thence the two beaudful maxims which 
were familiar to him : A man has no knowledge or eloquence, but 
inasmuch as he acts up to what he knows and says. We see 
many who take great pains to acquire the other sciences, but happy 
is he who is satisfied with knowing Jesus Christ crucified. f 

Doubtless the holy patriarch wished his brethren to have 
Psalters and Breviaries, since they were obliged to say the Divine 
Office. He knew, also, that books were necessary for them, to 
enable them, by study, to be enabled to instruct their neighbors, 
according as their vocation required, and he himself read the 
Scriptures. But he did not approve that any one should have a 
book for his own peculiar use ; either fearing that an idea of 
having property in it should be mixed up with it, or because he 
remarked too great a desire for knowledge, of which he feared that 
the consequences might be in opposition to simplicity, humility, 
and devotion. 

The study which is entered upon more through vanity than 
piety, and less to gain souls to God than to gain for themselves 
the praise of man, was his abhorrence. He said of those whose 
desire for learning was out of curiosity : " In the day of tribula- 
tion, they will find nothing in their hands. It would be better 
that tliey should labor now to improve themselves in virtue, in 



I^ukc, viii., 10. f I Cor. 



11., 



452 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

order to have the Lord on their side at that time ; for the time 
will come, when books will be thrown aside as useless. I do not 
choose that my brethren shall be curious in learning and books ; 
what I wish is, that they be well grounded in humility, simplicity, 
prayer, and poverty, our mistress. It is the only sure way of their 
salvation, and for the edification of their neighbor, because they 
are called to imitate Jesus Christ, who followed and pointed out 
this path. Many will forsake this path, on pretence of edifying 
other men by their knowledge ; and it will turn out that under- 
standing the Scriptures, by which alone they fancied themselves 
filled with light, devotion, and the love of God, will be the cause 
of their remaining cold and empty. Thus, in consequence of 
having, in pursuit of vain and useless literature, lost the time 
which ought to have been given to living according to the spirit 
of the state they had embraced, they will not have it in their 
power to return to their primitive vocation." 

St. Francis looked upon the ministry of preaching as the most 
agreeable sacrifice which could be offered to the Father of Mer- 
cies ; this is also the grand idea which St. Paul entertains of it,* 
when he says : '^God has given me the grace that I should be 
the minister of Jesus Christ among the Gentiles, sanctifying the 
Gospel of God, that the oblation of the Gentiles may be made 
acceptable, and sanctified by the Holy Ghost." St. Chrysostomf 
concludes ft"om that, that preaching is a sacrifice ; that the preacher 
is the priest ; that an attentive and devout audience is the victim ; 
that the Word of God is the sword w^hich immolates, spiritually, 
and the grace of the Holy Ghost the fire which consumes. What 
exalted sentiments must not a preacher entertain, in exercising this 
sort of priesthood ; and with what spirit of devotion should not 
those attend who are thus holily immolated ! 

The blessed father had another beautiful idea as to the ministiy 
of the Word, and St. Bonaventura has made a particular note of 
it. He compared the evangelical ministers to those w^ho, in the 
Ancient Law, raised up posterity to their brother defunct, who had 
not left any. I According to him, this brother defunct is Jesus 
Christ crucified ; and when a preacher makes any converts, they are 
the children he raises up for Him, and of whom he takes care. 
From this we see that the holy man made profound reflections 
upon passages in the Holy Scriptures, which seem less appropriate 
to moralists, and that he found in them most edifying spiritual 
sentiments. 

The ardor of his love for Jesus Christ, and his great zeal for the 
salvation of souls, made him esteem all preachers very venerable. 
His intention was, that some of his Order should be brought up to 

* Rom. XV., l6. t Chrys. Homil. 29, in Epist. ad Rom. :|: Deut. xxv., 5. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 453 

that duty, and that they should be respected by the others, because 
it is they who instil life, who combat the infernal enemy, and who 
enlighten the world. But he desired that they should exercise 
their ministry in a spirit of charity, even more by example, by 
prayers, and tears, than by eloquent discourses. 

^'I desire," he said, ''that these ministers of the Word of God 
should apply themselves solely to spiritual exercises, and let noth- 
ing turn them from them ; for, as they are chosen by the great 
King to declare His will to the people, it is requisite that they 
should learn, in the privacy of prayer, what they are to make 
known in their sermons ; and that they should be interiorly warmed, 
in order to make use of language which shall kindle fire in the 
hearts they address. Those who make use of their own lights, and 
who savor the truths they preach, are very praiseworthy; but it is a 
bad division when all is given to preaching, and little or nothing 
to devotion. As to those who sell their labors for the oil of appro- 
bation, such as those excite our pity. '' 

He also said that ''it was a deplorable thing to see the state of 
a preacher, who seeks, by his discourses, not the salvation of souls, 
but his own glory, or who destroys, by his example, what he had 
advocated by his doctrine. A poor brother, simple and without 
eloquence, who, by good example, induces others to the practice 
of virtue, is to be preferred to him. 'She that was barren,' says 
a prophetess, ' has become the mother of many children; and she 
who had many children, finds herself barren. ' * The barren repre- 
sents the poor brother, who, not performing the functions of the 
minister who gives children to the Church, will, nevertheless, have 
many at the day of judgment, because then Jesus Christ, the 
Supreme Judge, will honorably attribute to him those whom he 
now converts by his prayers, which he offers up in private. She 
who had many children, and will now find herself barren, is the 
representative of that vain preacher who has nothing but words. 
He rejoices now in having begotten many children to Jesus Christ, 
by the eloquence of his discourses ; but he will then be made 
aware that they belong not to him." 

The holy man continued thus: "Many employ themselves 
solely in acquiring knowledge, deviating from humility and prayer, 
dispersing themselves and dissipating themselves within and 
without. Where they have preached, and find that some persons 
have been edified and moved, they raise themselves up, anil become 
proud of the success, without reflecting that God has granted that 
success to the prayers and tears of some poor, humble, and sim[)le 
brethren, who do not themselves know this result ; for God chooses 
that they should remain ignorant of it, in order that they may 



454 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 



have no temptation to be proud. These are my true brethren, 
whom I call Knights of the Round Table, who hide themselves 
in solitary places, to have better opportunities of devoting them- 
selves to prayer, and whose sanctity, well known to God, is some- 
times unknown to men, or even to their brethren. One day they 
will be presented by angels to the Lord, who will say to them : 
' My beloved children, here are the souls that have been saved by 
your prayers, by your tears, by your good example. Receive now 
the fruit of the labors of those who only made use of their learning 
for this object. Because you have been faithful over a few things, 
I will set you over many.'* They will thus enter into the joy of the 
Lord, loaded with the fruit of their virtues ; while the others, who 
have employed themselves in studying the way of salvation, in 
order to teach it, without following it themselves, will appear naked 
and empty-handed at the tribunal of Jesus Christ, having on them 
marks of grief and confusion. 

"Then will be known, exalted, and glorified the true merit of 
holy humility, simplicity, prayer, and poverty, in which consists 
our vocation. It is now controverted by the actions and discourses 
of those men who are puffed up with the wind of learning; who 
treat truth itself as falsehood, and blindly persecute those who 
walk in the ways of truth ; but their erroneous notions, w^hich they 
endeavor to pass off as truths, and by which they blind many, 
will, in that time, tend only to their shame and affliction : they, 
with their gloomy ideas, will be cast into exterior darkness, there 
to associate with the spirits of darkness. "f 

All that St. Francis says against vain learning, — a learning which 
is ostentatious and void of devotion, — is founded on the beautiful 
words of our Saviour : " ]\Iany will say to me on that day. Lord, 
Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name.^ And then I will 
profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me you that 
work iniquity ; " J and on these of St, Paul : '' If I speak with the 
tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become 
as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.'' § ''I chastise my body, 
and bring it into subjection, lest, perhaps, when I have preached 
to others, I myself should become a castaway. '' || 

But it may not be concluded from this that the holy patriarch 
had any wish to prevent his brethren from studying and becom- 
ing learned ; for, ist, he was not unaware of what St. Augustine 
teaches on that head.^]" That learning is good in itself; that it is 
a gilt of God ; that it is most useful, when charity employs it; that 
it serves as a guide to piety ; and that, when it has the Holy Scrip- 

* Matt. XXV., 29. t lb., viii., 12. + lb., vii., 22 et 23. 

^ I Cor. xiii., i. || lb. ix., 27. ^ S. August, de Grat. 

Christ., cap. xxvi.; de Doct. Christ., lib. 2, cap. vii.; Epist. 55, ad Januar., 
alias 119. cap. xxi., n. 37. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 455 

ture for its object, it powerfully excites to the love of God. How 
many learned men there are in whom humility, simplicity, and 
all the other virtues, are combined with deep reading! 2d. He 
positively declared, as has been reported upon the evidence of St, 
Bonaventura, that he was well pleased that his brethren should 
study ; it was his wish that schools should be opened in his 
Order, and he himself, as has been already noticed, instituted 
St. Anthony of Padua lecturer in theology. 3d. He wished to 
have his brethren apostolical men, employed in the holy ministry 
for the salvation of souls, and he had inserted in his Rule a 
chapter which solely relates to the instruction of preachers. He 
desired, in consequence, that the Friars Minors should acquire the 
learning requisite for fulfilling their functions, which, in the or- 
dinary course of things, is impossible without study. ^ "It was, 
certainly, his intention," adds St. Bonaventura, f '^ that his brethren 
should apply themselves to the study of the Holy Scriptures, for, 
one day, having but one copy of the New Testament, he divided 
it into leaves, which he distributed among them, that all might 
read and instruct themselves at the same time." The holy 
doctor J maintains, in another place, that there are no religious 
who, by their position, are more employed in preaching than the 
Friars Minors ; and he adds, that, as St. Francis required them to 
be correct and accurate in their discourses, it is clear that he 
himself obliges them to study, since, without such application, it is 
impossible to be correct. 

If the blessed founder has spoken more of humility and piety 
than of learning and study, it is, in the first place, because he well 
knew that, naturally, persons are more prone to learn than to 
practise ; and, secondly, because the virtues which purify the 
heart, are gifts more precious and necessary than learning, which 
only enlightens the mind ; and, in the third place, because he 
knew that St. Paul says that ''knowledge puffeth up," § that a 

* This is what Mabillon has established on the clearest grounds in his 
** Reflexions sur la Reponse faite a son Traite des Etudes Monastiques," by the 
Abb^ de la Trappe, who pretended that Saint Francis had forbidden his 
religious to study; although he says, in the same work, pages 135 and 
136, "I don't mean to speak of those religious whom the Church is acc\is- 
tomed to employ in her ecclesiastical functions." The learned Benedictine 
shows that the Friars Minors must study, to render themselves capable, by 
their learning, of duly performing the sacred functions of the ministry; that 
Saint Francis approved of their studying, provitled they attended to their 
studies with piety; and the facts brought forward by the abbe do not prove 
the contrary. We have not alluded here to the celebrated dispute of these 
two eminent men on the subject of monastic studies, except to say that it ended 
like those lawsuits in which each party gains and loses something.— Reflex- 
ions sur la Reponse, p. 62, et seq. 

t St. Bonaventura, Opuscul. de trib. qurest. ad Magist. 

t Td. Expos., in cap. 0, Rcgul. Fr. Min. "^ I Cor. viii., I. 



4^6 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

learned person easily becomes proud and presumptuous, if charity 
does not keep him in humility, and in mistrust of himself. 

Finallv, let not his words be misconstrued to give color, under 
pretence of piety, to laziness and ignorance. He preferred, to 
vain and sterile learning, the humility and simplicity of the poor 
brethren, who spent their time in prayer : this was no more than 
right ''A rustical holiness," St. Jerome remarks,* ^'is more 
valuable than vicious learning and criminal eloquence." But the 
blessed patriarch only spoke of the lay-brethren, who were not 
intended for the sacred ministries, or of those clerks whose talents 
were not equal to bemg employed in them, and whose occupations 
were limited to prayer and labor. In res[)ect to the others, who, by 
study, might render themselves capable of serving their neighbor 
spiritually, he certainly would have censured them, had they con- 
tinued in ignorance, even under the pretext of prayer and manual 
labor, — he, who had adopted, as we have seen, the maxim, that 
''nothing is preferable to the salvation of souls." He well knew 
that all the brethren did not resemble some among them whom 
God had supernaiurally enlightened, and who, without any other 
aid than that of prayer, had sufficient light to be able to announce 
the Word of God. St. Jerome says,f that if a man of talent must 
not persuade himself that holiness consists in the beauty of his 
composition, and in the ornament of eloquence, so also a simple 
and unpolished man must not imagine that his ignorance consti- 
tutes him a saint. This is even still clearer, when this man must 
not be ignorant. Now, it is maintained that a Friar Minor, clerk, 
or priest, is obliged, in conscience, according to the talent he has 
received from heaven, to study carefully, in order to be competent 
to fulfil properly the ministries of preaching and the confessional ; 
because the spirit of his vocation, and of his Order, is to labor for 
the salvation of souls. But he must always have before his eyes 
what his blessed father wrote to St. Anthony of Padua : ''1 agree 
that you should teach the brethren sacred theologv^ in such 
manner, however, that the spirit of holy prayer be not extinguished, 
either in yourself or in others, according to the rule of w^hich we 
have made profession." 

We have before observed that, when St. Francis was at Sienna, 
in his last illness, he fell into an alarming state of weakness, so 
.hat it was feared he was about to breathe his last, but that, when 
that had passed over, he dictated a letter to his whole Order ; this 
is the tenor of it : — 

'' To the Reverend and very amiable Brethren, the Minister General, 
and other Brethren of the Order of Minors, Brother Francis 
sends greeting, in Jesus Christ. 




* S. Hier. Epist. ad Nepot., 34 alias 2. f L 



. supra. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 457 

''Since it is true that he who comes from God, hears the word 
of God,* we must, consequently, my well beloved brethren, — we 
who are destined to render to the Lord a purely spiritual worship, — 
not only hear and practise what Pie says; but also, in order to give 
a sublime idea of the majesty of the Creator, by a profound submis- 
sion to Him, give particular attention to all that is contained in 
any of His words. It is for this that I call upon my brethren, and 
I exhort them, in Jesus Christ, to attend to His divine wxrds with 
all the respect in their power, wheresoever they may find them 
written ; and if they were not in a decent place, or if on the ground, 
to pick them up, and put them, as much as it may be in their 
power, in convenient places. It is in order to pay due reverence in 
these words to the Lord, from whom they emanate, for there are 
many things which are sanctified by the word of God ; and it is by 
virtue of the words of Jesus Christ, that the sacrament of the altar 
is completed, f 

*'I add, to this admonition, the confession of all my sins, which I 
make to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; to the 
Blessed Mary, ever a virgin, J and to all the saints in heaven and on 
earth ; to the Minister-General of the Order, as to my true master ; 
to all the priests of our Order, and to all my other brethren, blessed 
by God. I have committed many faults, of which I acknowledge 
myself very guilty, inasmuch as I have not kept the rule, according 
to the promise which I have made to God ; inasmuch as, by my 
negligence, or pretext of my infirmities, or because of my ignorance 



* Joan, viii., 47. t I Tim. iv., 5. 

X What could be the intention of the author of anew form of Breviary 
which is printed in a foreign country, at least if we may give credit to its title- 
page, and circulated clandestinely in Paris ? He has omitted, in the first part 
of the Confiteor, the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints. Ije will, 
doubt e>s, answer, that it was to return to ancient precedent. But, had not 
the Church the power, when it deemed it expedient, to make addition to the 
formula of public confession ; and has any individual a right to leave out what 
it thought proper to acid ? Moreover, our present formula is not one of recent 
date. Cardinal Bona says that he had seen similar ones in very ancient manu- 
scrij)t missals, and in many which are anterior to the thirteenth century : it is 
found iii its present state in a missal printed by order of Pius V. The con- 
fession made by vSt. Francis is an additional proof on this head. It is strange 
enough that in these days people consider themselves wiser than the Church; 
that they have the rashness to censure her discipline, set aside her usages, 
change her rites, and even say Mass differently from what she prescribes : this 
is the unfortunate consequence of that spirit of error which caused the altera- 
tion of her dogmas, and ihe rejection of her decisions. If it is wished to know 
who has made this alteration in the Confiteor, it is only necessarv to apply to 
the Bisho])of Evreux, who, by the depth of his learning, and his zeal for'the 
faith, docs honor to the ll»>ly See. — " Bonade l\ebus I.iturg. lib. ii.. cap. 2. nn. 
5 et 7.'' See, also, the 4th Tome of I)'Ach(iry's Si)icilogium. in which he notices 
the usages of the monastery of Cluni, according to which the iniblic Confession 
was made to God, and 10 all the saints : lib. ij., cap. 30. 

20 



45S S. FRANXIS OF ASSIST. 

and want of talent, I have not said the Divine Office as the Rule 
prescribes. 

*' I entreat, in ever}^ possible way, the Minister-General, my mas- 
ter, to take care that all keep strictly to the rule, that the clerks 
celebrate the Divine Office with devotion, as being in the presence 
of God, in order to please Him by the uprightness of their hearts. 
Do not let them affect to utter sounds which are pleasing to the ear 
by the softness of their voices, but let them take care that the voice 
shall be in unison with the spirit, and the spirit with God. It is 
what I promise "^ to put strictly into practice by His grace, and I 
shall recommend it strongly to my brethren who are with me, as 
well as the observance of the other rules. Those who will not 
adhere to this, I shall not consider as Catholics, nor as brethren ; 
and until such times as they shall have done penance, I will neither 
see nor speak to them. I say the same thing of those who take 
useless journeys, to the contempt of regular discipline. They 
' ought to remain in obedience to their superiors, since our Saviour 
suffered death not to fail in obedience to His most holy Father. 

*' ' I, Brother Francis, a vile and unworthy creature of God, 
declare, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the Minister- 
General of our Order, and all his successors, the provincials and 
the guardians, present and to come, must be in possession of this 
writing, keep it carefully, and obseiTe, and cause to be obser\'ed, 
what it contains. According to the good pleasure of Almighty 
God, all you who shall faithfully put these things in practice, be ye 
blessed now and ever, as long as the world shall last, and may 
the Lord be with you eternally. Amen." 

1. It must be remarked, in this letter, that the holy man often 
and strongly insists on the attention requisite, not to let any papers 
be scattered on which the name of God occurs, or any holy words, 
but to have them collected, and placed with care in appropriate 
places. This sentiment arose from a lively idea of the greatness 
of the Sovereign Being, and of the homage which vile creatures 
are bound to render Him.f If we reflect that holy and terrible is 
the name of God ; that the Supreme IMajesty has condescended to 
speak to us, and that we have His own words in writing, could we 
see such a name, and such words, in indecent places, and leave 
them there .^ Is it not scandalous that the Holy Scriptures and 

' works of piety are bought and sold for profane uses ? They ought 
to be properly taken care of, or burnt. 

2. The humility evinced by the holy patriarch, in confessing his 
sins, in writing, to his Vicar, and the whole Order, in terms of the 
greatest contempt of himself, exemplifies the truth of this saying 

* He expressed himself thus on his death-bed, because he wns sincerely 
resolved to recite the Divine Office, as he directed his brethren to recite it, had 
he lived several years longer. f Psalm ex., 9. 



S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 459 

of Wisdom, that " the just man is the first to accuse himself/' * 
St. Ephrem, St. Augustine, Pope St. Gregory, f and many others, 
accused themselves publicly of the faults they had fallen into, or 
that they thought they had committed in the service of God, and 
which great tenderness of conscience magnified in their eyes. 
This is a great subject of confusion to those who cannot bring 
themselves to admit that they have been in the wrong, even when 
their fault is palpable and apparent ; whom we hear bitterly com- 
plaining of being obliged, by their religion, to accuse themselves of 
their sins in the tribunal of penance, and who only accuse them- 
selves, while excusing what they have done. ^'Confession,'' says 
TertuUian, "is instituted to humble and pull down the pride of 
man, J because there is only a contrite and humble heart that can 
appease the wrath of God. The priest and the people confess, 
alternately, their sins before the Introit of the Mass, and pray for 
each other, in order to celebrate and hear it more worthily, being 
thus prepared, by humiliation and contrition. It is likewise a 
method of expiating ordinary offences, which is adopted by all 
the religious orders, who publicly accuse themselves of the faults 
thev have committed. 

3. What Francis notices in his letter on the subject of the 
Divine Office, is a complete proof that, as early as those- times, 
punishment was in use ; and this is confirmed by a regulation 
made in the general chapter of 1249, against those who changed 
the usual chant used and approved by preceding chapters-general. 
But the blessed founder desired that they should not sing in a soft 
and effeminate style. St. Bernard, § sending to the religious of 
Montiers-Ramey the office he had composed for the feast of St. 
Victor, required a similar condition. ''If they sing," he said, 
*'let the chant be full and grave, without softness, and without 
harshness ; let it be melodious and fluent, without being light and 
precipitate ; let it be pleasing to the ear, so that it may reach the 
heart, drive away sorrow, and calm the passions ; and that, instead 
of weakening the sense of the words, it may give them additional 
strength. For, to be deprived, by the music, of the fruit which is 
derived from attention to what is sung, and to apply one's self to 
modulations of the voice, rather than to give force to the things to 
which the voice gives utterance, is no small loss of spiritual bene- 
fit. This is a just idea of plain chant, and altogether of church 
music, which must be very difi'crcnt from that of profane assem- 
blies, not wholly to give pleasure to the ear, when the principal 

* Pjov. xiii., 17. t St. Ephr. rcprch. sui torn, i., png. 6 ct 

alibi, edit. Antwerp, 1669. St. Aug. Confess., lib. x., cap. 30, et scq. St. 
Grci^. Mor. in Jol), cap. iilt. 

t Terlull. (le Poenit., capp. 9ct 10. Psalm. 1. et \i. 

^S St. iJernard., I'^.pist. 39S, n. 2. 



460 S. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. 

object is to excite devotional feelings in the soul. St. Austin * 
was so nice on this point, that, when he heard a psalm sung by a 
beautiful voice, he was fearful of being more moved by the sound, 
than by what was sung. However, the Friars are not confined 
to plain chant by their rule, although it is prescribed to them to 
perform the Office according to the usage of the Roman Church, 
because the one is not bound by the other. Those who use it, 
do well ; and those who do not sing it, do well also ; both the 
one and the other have good reasons for their respective practices. 
Each one must conform to the usage of the place where he is, 
and bear in mind these words of the common father : '* Let the 
voice be in unison with the mind, and the mind with God." 

4. As to what the holy patriarch declares, that he will not hold 
for Catholics, or for brethren, those who will not recite the Divine 
Office as he prescribes, and who will not conform to the other 
regulations, it must be understood, as in his will given above, 
which, he says, was only made, in order that the rule should be 
better kept in a Catholic manner. He means to say, as the faith- 
ful do not consider those as Catholics and brethren who break in 
matters of faith that unity of spirit which animates all the members 
of the Church ; so he does not hold as Catholics, nor as brethren, 
in the regular observances, those who lose that spirit of uniformity 
which all the members ought to have, of which a religious order is 
composed. We might, nevertheless, say that he took the word 
Catholic in the sense which concerns faith, because he feared that 
those who would not recite the Divine Office in the spirit of the 
Church, who would refuse to submit to the regulations of an 
Order approved of by the Church, and which they have entered, 
must have in their hearts some sentiments hostile to the purity of 
the faiih, or were disposed to adopt such. At least, experience 
teaches us, and it is seen at this day, that those who censure the 
discipline and usages of the Church, are the authors or the sup- 
porters of the doctrines she condemns. 

The other instructions of St. Francis, which are neither less solid 
nor less affecting, are found in his works, which have been col- 
lected and given to the public. No one must feel surprised that 
he was able to give instruction on so many different subjects. Al- 
though he had studied litde when in the 'world, says St. Bonaven- 
tura, he had subsequently acquired much information, not only 
by means of prayer, but by reading. He appropriated some time 
for reading the holy Scriptures, besides which he was very talented, 
had great judgment, and was very quick ; his memory was so good, 
that what he had once learnt he never forgot ; and the more so, as 
he continually impressed it on his heart, by tender and affectionate 



* St. Aug. Confess., lib. x., cap. 33, 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 46 1 

devotion. The divine truths which he expressed in his conduct, 
by a faithful imitation of the virtues of Jesus Christ, and the con- 
stant appHcation he gave to prayer, had rendered his mind so pure, 
and so free from any darkness — had attracted to it such briUiant 
rays of eternal light, that he penetrated the profoundest mysteries 
with surprising judgment. The Holy Ghost, whom in his heart 
he cherished, instructed him by a plenitude of unction ; * the 
love of God carried him into those sanctuaries into which other 
masters cannot penetrate, but remain at the door. It is thus the 
holy doctor speaks of him. 

While the holy patriarch was ill at Sienna, a religious of the 
Order of the Friars Preachers, who was a doctor of theology, and 
a truly learned man, put several very difficult questions to him : he 
answered them so learnedly, and so clearly, that the doctor was 
quite surprised, and spoke of the circumstance with admiration. 
Truly, said he, the theology of this holy father is an eagle, which 
soars to a great height ; it is raised up, as if with wings, by the 
purity of the heart, and by contemplation, while our knowledge 
is as that of animals which crawl on the ground. 

Thus, according to St. Athanasius, the great Anthony, f who 
was illiterate, showed admirable knowledge in his controversy with 
the heretical Arians, and in his replies to pagan philosophers who 
strove to puzzle him. So also, according to the testimony of Sul- 
picius Severus, J no one explained the Holy Scriptures more clearly 
than the celebrated Bishop of Tours, St. Martin, who had never 
studied. 

Another Friar Preacher asked St. Francis how he was to under- 
stand these words of the Saviour to the Prophet Ezekiel : *'If 
thou speakest not to the impious that he may be converted from 
his wicked way and live, the same wicked man shall die in his 
iniquity ; but I will require his blood at thy hand. '' § The humble 
father having at first excused himself, saying that he should 
apply to learned theologians to learn the sense of the Holy Script- 
ures ; but, as the religious urged him, nevertheless, to give his 
opinion, and expressed a great wish to have it preferably to that 
of others whom he had consulted, he gave him this answer : *^I 
believe these words, if taken in the full extent, to mean, that the 
servant of God must be by holiness, and the good odor of his life, 
a torch which burns and enlightens, in order that the splendor of 
his example may be as a voice which censures the impious ; for 
this is the way to warn and reprehend them all : if he act other- 
wise, and scandalize his neighbor, he will not escape the punish- 
ment of heaven. " 



* JO'i". ii., 17. t Vit. S. Anton., n. 60 et 72, apud S. Athan. 

t Sulp. Sev., Vit. S. Mart., no. 29. vS Kzcch. iii., 18. 



462 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

St. Francis was not ignorant that the Hteral and immediate sense 
of this passage is, that pastors, and all those who are in authority, 
are obliged to instruct warn, censure, and correct those who are 
committed to their charge ; and they become guilty of the loss of 
souls, if they are silent when they ought to speak. He himself, 
faithful in the mission he had received from God and the Holy 
See, never ceased from exhorting his brethren to sanctify them- 
selves, and from urging sinners to be converted ; but he found in 
the above passage a more extended sense, and one of greater moral 
influence, which was, to preach by example ; and he adhered to 
this for many reasons : — i. Because words produce small effect when 
they are not backed by example. 2. Because there are a greater 
number of superiors who instruct and censure, than of those who 
edify by example. 3. Because the number of persons who have 
no right to instruct and reprove, is the greater, and it is good that 
they should know that God will call them to account for the good 
example which it was their duty to have given, which might have 
contributed to the conversion of sinners. All this shows how solid 
and proper the saint's reply was. 

We have also reason to believe that he was instructed in the 
canon law, since we have seen that he quoted some of its decrees, 
and that he consulted a talented barrister for the aifairs of his Order. 
As to the subjects of morality which he has treated of, as we find 
similar thoughts and expressions in them to those of the fathers 
of the Church, it must necessarily be admitted that he had read 
some of their works, or that God had given him similar lights. 
On the mysteries of religion he always spoke with correctness 
and theological precision ; and we may have remarked that he 
employed against the heretics the strongest proof we have for 
invincibly establishing the real presence of Jesus Christ in the 
Eucharist. 

His style is plain, because he formed it on the Gospel, from 
which he would not in any degree deviate — besides that, his was 
not the age of elegant Latinity ; but in all that he has written we 
do not find anything that is not clear and intelligible — there are 
even passages insinuating and persuasive : we have also reason to 
admire some parts which are beautiful from their simplicity. Let 
the cleverest men read his description of the rich sinner on his 
death-bed, and he will be obliged to admit that it would be im- 
possible to draw a more natural or more striking portrait. 

He had so completely the talent of persuasion, that neither 
popes, cardinals, nobles, nor any other persons could resist his 
appeals ; whatsoever he wished, they complied with. It is not 
easy, for the sake of piety, to persuade to that which is contrar}^ to 
the interests of a family : nevertheless, St. Francis succeeded in this. 
The following is an example, which, relating only to a very com- 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISL 463 

mon subject, we, notwithstanding, select, because it contains whole- 
some instruction : — 

The saint was one day sweeping out a country church, according 
to his usual practice, when a man, whose name was John, and 
who was ploughing in an adjoining field, came and took the 
broom from his hands, and after having swept the whole church, 
he said to him : ''Brother, \yhat I have heard of you and of your 
brethren, has inspired m.e with an idea of serving God as you do. 
I did not know how to come to you, but, since it has pleased God 
that I should find you here as I had wished, I offer myself to you : 
do with me as you please." Francis, knowing by an interior 
light, that this man had been sent him by the Lord, resolved to 
receive him into his Order, and after having instructed him in the 
Rule, he said to him : ''If you resolve upon joining this Institute, 
you must renounce all you have, and give it to the poor." John 
went immediately to his plough, unyoked the oxen, and brought 
one to Francis, saying : "I have been long in the service of my 
father, and I maintain the family by my labor ; I think I may 
take this ox for my reward, and do with it as you shall direct me. '' 
He immediately went home to take leave of his parents, and 
desired them to take care of the plough. 

The parents, alarmed when they learnt his intention, ran in 
despair to the church, where Francis still was, and conjured him 
not to take a man from them who was so useful to them, and 
earned their means of living. He replied mildly to them, and 
told them that he should come and dine with them, and sleep at 
their house, and would endeavor to console them. He went, and 
after dinner, addressing himself to John's father, he said: "My 
dear host, your son wishes to serve God, and it is God who has 
inspired him with this thought. This ought not to give you any 
displeasure ; on the contrary, it ought to be gratifying to yoil, and 
you should give God thanks that He has been pleased to select 
one of your family for His service. This will be no small gain to 
you ; for, for this son whom you give up. you will gain as many 
children and brethren as there are religious in the Order he is 
about to join. Moreover, your son is one of God's creatures ; and 
if God has destined him for Himself, who shall dare to resist His 
will.? Who shall say to Him, 'Why dost Thou do thus.?'* 
He is all-powerful, and He is also just. He only asks for what 
belongs to Him. May His will therefore be done, and may His 
mercy be extended to your son, whom I cannot and ought not to 
refuse to receive into the hi)use of God, which he so anxiously 
wishes me to do. All that I can, and will do for you, is, to desire 
him to leave you the ox he h.ul destined for the poor, according to 



* Esther, xiii., 9; Job. ix., 12. 



464 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

the Gospel, and that, abandoning to the world what belongs to 
the world, he come stripped of everything, to throw himself into 
the arms of Jesus Christ. '"' 

This reasoning was so convincing to the parents, that they 
assented willingly and cheerfully to their sons leaving them, whom 
before they thought they could not part with. Human prudence 
will not fail to say that he ought to have remained with his parents, 
to provide for their subsistence by his labor ; but will it say that 
James and John,* being called by Jesus Christ, ought not to have left 
Zebedee, their father, who was poor, and whom they maintained 
by their fishing? Our Lord, in calling them, desired that they 
should obey His voice, and leave to Providence to provide for the 
subsistence of their father. St. Francis well knew that, under any 
other circumstances, this laborer would have been bound to work 
to provide for his parents ; but, as he knew that his call was from 
God to a religious state of life, he wisely judged that the Lord would 
assist the family by some other means, and that the vocation ought 
to be followed. The reasons he gave were opposed to the tender f 
affection of those parents who prevent their children from con- 
secrating themselves to God ; and although he laid them before 
them in a simple and unartificial manner, they were not the less 
calculated to make due impression on the most enlightened per- 
sons, as well as on the ignorant peasants who bowed to them. 

In his sermons he took no pains to polish his language, and 
cared as little as the apostle did who was reproached for not mak- 
ing studied discourses : J but we are not, therefore, to conclude 
from this, that he preached without eloquence. A man who has 
considerable genius, judgment, and quickness, gifted with an 
excellent memor)^ ; a strong, sonorous, and agreeable voice, pene- 
trated with the great truths of religion, and with the most tender 
sentiments of piety ; who speaks with ease, naturally and persua- 
sively, with all the vehemence and all the fire, the effect of ardent 

* Matt, iv., 21 et 22. 

t St, Jerome says that it is a sort of piety in a child to be cruel to parents 
who endeavor to prevent him from sacrificing himself to God, but that it is 
only in such circumstances that it is permitt :d to him to be so. — Epist. 5, alias 
I, ad Heliod. — St. Augustine teaches us that a child whose parents wish to 
retain him in the world, when Crod commands him to leave it, must deaden 
in his heart by the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, that carnal 
offeclion, in order to give life to sentiments of Christianity. — Epist. ad Lxt. 
243, alias 38, n. 5.— St. Bernard addressed these words to a young man who 
refused to consecrate himself to God out of tender affection for his mother: 
" If you have great affection for your mother, leave her for your own sake and 
for hers, otherwise she will perish by causing your loss." There is impiety 
in despising one's mother ; but in despising her for Jesus Christ, there is great 
piety. He who has said, ** Honor thy father and thy mother," has also said, 
that ''he who loves his father or his moiher more than me, is not worthy of 
mc/' — Epist. 104 , n. 5. j i Cor. ii., et 4; 3. Cor. xi., 16. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 465 

charity, employing ever}thing that can move and instruct his 
auditors, — is not such a man eloquent? Well, such an one was 
St. Francis. 

Many people form to themselves a false idea of eloquence ; they 
make it consist in a happy choice of words, the brilliancy of 
thought, the harmony of the number and measure of the periods. 
But all this is the smallest part ; it is only that which pleases, in 
order to attract attention, and it must be used with precaution, 
particularly in evangelical discourses. ^'The principal object,'' 
says St. Augustine,* " is to instruct well, that those who listen may 
understand every word that is said to them ; and to excite such 
feelings in them as may lead them to adopt the view which is laid 
before them. " These are the dispositions to be created, which the 
holy doctor calls the triumph of eloquence, f He admires them 
in the prophets and apostles ; he thinks that by them the sacred 
writers joined naturally to their innate sagacity the most beauti- 
ful ornaments of the art, without seeking them, and he adduces 
various examples. ''Since," he adds, ''it is true that the rules of 
the oratorical art are drawn from the mind, are we to be surprised 
that God, who forms those minds, shall imprint on some, without 
study, the same rules, and that, from time to time. He sends forth 
such chosen men to announce His word.? It is, indeed, with this 
description ofeloquence that the word of God should be announced ; 
by speaking great truths, propounding them clearly, endeavoring 
to introduce them into the heart ; and not making use of the 
force of language, or other beauties of rhetoric, but inasmuch as 
it is necessary for instructing and enforcing them." 

The polish of language which St. Francis neglected, was won- 
derfully compensated by divine virtue. St. Bonaventura says 
that the Holy Ghost, from whom he had received his unction 
and his mission, inspired him with abundance of words to preach 
His holy doctrine, and continually assisted him ; and that Jesus 
Christ, who is the strength of the Father, came invariably to his 
aid ; that, indeed, he had recourse to the ornaments of human 
elo(|aence, in his discourses, but that inspiration was very percepti- 
ble ; that his preaching was a great fire, which penetrated quite 
to the bottom of hearts, with so much efficacy, that the most 
(jbduiv.te were softened, and had recourse to penance. INIcn and 
women, young and old, nobles and plebeians, flocketl in crowds 
10 see and hear this extraordinary man, whom God had sent them. 
He seemed to ihcm, in flict, to be a man from the other world, 
when they saw him, with his eyes elevated to heaven, with the 
view of (hawing them thither ; and, as soon as bespoke, they felt 
their hearts moved to compunction. All that he said against the 

• S. Aug. (Ic I)(Xlr. Christ., lib. 4, cnpp. 12, 13 ct 14. t Ibid., capp. 6 ct 7. 



466 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

public scandals, was received with respect; those whose crime*) 
he censured, whatever confusion they might feel from it, did not 
dare complain — not even those in the highest station. Some of 
the learned were likewise noticed amongst his auditory, and they, 
more than any others, admired the powerful influence of his dis- 
courses, knowing him to be a man who had not gone through any 
course of study. In short, the public was so charmed by hearing 
him, that, after preaching one day at Cortona, and wishing to return 
to the convent of Celles, the guards at the gates of the town would 
not let him pass. After having preached for three successive days 
there, he only got leave to go, after the strongest entreaties, and 
after having promised to leave Brother Guy there, whose sanctity 
he assured them w^ould free Cortona from many evils. God 
punished, in a most frightful manner, an insolent young girl, who 
was making a noise with a sort of drum during the saint s ser- 
mon ; he had called upon her three times to be quiet, but she 
laughed at him, and he was then inspired to say, in a loud voice, 
*' Devil, take what is thy own." At the same moment the girl 
was raised up into the air, and she was seen no more. By this 
dreadful example, God proposed to teach them the respect they 
were bound to have for the instructions which His ser\'ants teach 
them, as once He taught the faithful not to lie to the Holy Ghost, 
by the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira,* which followed the 
reproach which St. Peter had made them.f 

The supernatural and miraculous gifts which St. Francis had 
received from God, gave great weight to his preaching. A man 
who casts out devils, who raises the dead to life, who cures the 
sick, whose prophecies are verified, who discovers spirits, who 
commands animals, and makes them obey him, — a man who per- 
forms these prodigies, and many others, is listened to as if he were 
an angel, when he speaks. We may have noticed, in the life of 
the saint, how authoritatively he drove out devils from the bodies 
of those who were possessed. We have seen the dead brought to 
life, under extraordinary circumstances, and a great number of 
sick cured. 

The Holy Ghost had bestowed on him the grace of cures to 
such a degree, that it not only gave its virtue to his hands, and to 
the sign of the cross, which he usually made, but to ever}'thing 
which he had touched. *'The cord with which he girded him- 
self,'' says St. Bonaventura, *'fell into the hands of a man who 

* Acts v., 5 et 10. 

t St. Jerome says that it was not St. Peter who put them to death, nor who 
called for their death; that by a spirit of prophecy he only declared the 
judgment of God upon these two persons. So, also, it was not St. Francis 
who delivered the girl, who was so insolent, to the devil ; it was Goct Himself, 
by the mouth of His servant. — Kpist. ad Dcmctr. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 467 

Vv^ent from house to house where there were any siek, soaked it in 
water, and made them drink it, which effected their cure. The 
legend which was composed by order of Pope Gregory IX, 
immediately after the death of St. Francis, states that infirm 
persons were placed before him, in the public squares, in order to 
their being restored to health by him ; and he was requested to 
bless bread, in order that it might be a cure for sicknesses which 
might supervene. 

The holy doctor assures us that the gift of prophecy appeared 
in our saint with great splendor ; that not only did he foretell things 
to come, but also spoke of those things which were happening in 
his absence, as if they were present before his eyes ; that he pene- 
trated to the bottom of hearts, and saw the most secret recesses 
of consciences, so that it might have been said that he inspected 
the mirror of eternal light, and that its admirable splendor dis- 
covered to him what was most hidden. We shall only add here 
to what has been related on this head, some anecdotes which may 
be useful. 

God revealed to him, in prayer, the loss of one of the religious, 
who had the reputation of being a saint, but who was so peculiar 
in everything, that, in order the more rigidly to keep silence, he 
usually confessed by signs. The blessed father having come to the 
convent in which this religious was, he saw him, and spoke of him 
to the others, who were loud in their praises of him. " Brethren,'' 
said he, *' cease all these praises, and give them not to inventions 
of the devil ; know that all this is but a temptation, and an extra- 
ordinaiy illusion." The brethren could not persuade themselves 
that so many marks of perfection were but covers to imposture ; 
but, a few days after, this pretended saint left the Order, which 
proved that St. Francis had probed to the bottom of his soul. 

He knew, in the same manner, why another, who seemed to be 
adorned with every virtue, had thrown oft' the habit of the Order; 
and he replied to his brethren who expressed their surprise at it : 
'* Do not be astonished, my brethren ; this wretch is lost, because 
he was not grounded in humility, and in the fear of God. Believe 
me that, without this foundation, it is fruitless to endeavor to be- 
come virtuous." 

Of two religious who were returning from the Terra di Lavoro, 
he saw in spirit that the senior did not by any means edify his com- 
panion. On iheir arrival, he asked the younger what had occurred 
on the road ; the other replied, that all had gone on well. "Take 
care," answered Francis, '' take care, and don't say what is lalse. on 
pretence of humility. I know, I know ; but wait a little, and you 
will see. " In fact, the giver of scandal abandoned his vocation 
shortly idler. 

'I'll * < hirit.ibh' lather rt,HTived, with great kindness, one of the 



468 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

brethren who had apostatized from the Order, and now returned ; 
he even gave him the kiss of peace. But, pointing out to him the 
gallows which was on a height, at some distance, he said : '' If the 
devil induces you to leave the Order a second time, he will lead 
you to be hanged on the gallows which you see from hence." 
This weak penitent did not profit from this warning, but lett the 
Order again, and led a libertine life, was taken up for a robbery, 
and hanged on the spot pointed out. St. Francis might have said 
of those, as St. John did of the apostates Avho left the Church, 
''lliey went out from us, but they were not of us; for, if they 
had been of us, they would no doubt have remained with us: "* 
that is to say, that they were not firm in the Christian religion. 

If religious who renounce their profession, are not always pun- 
ished in this world, by coming to a tragical end, what judgment 
must they not expect from God, who cannot endure that, putting 
the hand to the plough, they shall only cast a look behind ? f But 
what punishment must not those soliiaries have to dread in the 
next world, who have revolted against the authority of the Church, 
and against the superiors of their holy orders, for the support of 
errors which had been condemned, who had made the faithful 
weep at the sorrowful scene of their scandalous apostasy in 1725 ? 
In the opinion of St. Bernard, | it is likewise an apostasy to 
abandon the austerity of his rule, to adopt one which is milder, 
without cause, or for an insufficient cause, after having obtained a 
dispensation upon representations unfaithfully made. He notices, 
also, another, which he denominates an apostasy of the heart, 
which comprises a wish to return into Egypt, as the people of Israel 
did ; so that, under a religious habit, the mind is wholly secular, 
and it is sought to obtam for themselves the vain consolation 
of the world. 

Among many persons who appeared to be firm in a virtuous 
life, St. Francis, according to St. Bonaventura, predicted, with 
certainty, such as would fall ; and, among the wicked, those who 
would be converted. It is one of the most singular inspirations 
which God gives to His servants ; for persons only fall by their 
own free-will, and they are only converted by a free cooperation 
with grace. God knows infallibly, without any interference with 
our perfect liberty, in what way the human will will make its 
choice on these two points ; but how can that be explained ? This 
is the difficulty of theologians, and in which they have to avoid 
precipices. 

The knowledge of the human heart belongs to God alone ; 



*Joan.ii., 19. f Liikeix., 62. 

t S. F)ernard. epist. 313, n. 5. Apol. ad Guillel. Abb. cap. 13, n., et in Psalm. 
Qui liabiiat. Serm. 3, n. 5. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 469 

even the angels have it not, unless imparted to them by His light,* 
and He was pleased to communicate that light to Francis. We 
have had several instances of this, but we must add the following : 
The blessed father, being at the hermitage of Grecio, two of his 
brethren came, from a great distance off, urged by a strong desire 
to see him, and to receive his blessing, which they had long been 
desirous of. Unfortunately, they reached the hermitage when he 
was retired to his cell, from which he did not come out to receive 
visits, and they could not see him. As they were going away, 
greatly disappointed, he came out, contrary to his usual custom, 
called them, and blessed them in the name of Jesus Christ, and 
made the sign of the cross upon their foreheads, as they had wished. 
Humanly speaking, he could not have known that they were come, 
but he knew it in spiiit, as well as if he had seen them. 

Having restored peace, and performed some splendid miracles in 
a town, he left the place early in the morning, without having taken 
leave of the bishop, who had given him a most honorable recep- 
tion. At a spot where three roads diverged, he did not know 
which one he ought to take, and desired Brother Masse, who was 
his companion, to turn round and round, no doubt to put his 
obedience to the test.f When he began to be giddy, he ordered 
him to stop, and to follow the road which was before him. Masse 
went first, and said to himself, " How uncivil ! how simple ! He 
not only has not taken leave of the bishop who received him with 
so much kindness, but he makes me turn round and round as a 
child." This interior murmuring did not last ; these reflections 
followed : ^* How could I have so much pride as to despise a man 
who is so evidently beloved by God ? Fool that I am, I deserve 
to go to hell for daring to censure the actions of Francis, through 
whom the Lord works such wonders, and whom I ought to look 
upon as an angel. And, after all, what reason has he given me 
for censuring him ? He left the town without having taken leave 
of the bishop, but it was to avoid fresh honors being shown him ; 
he made me turn round and round, but he made me take the 
right road." Then Francis exclaimed: '' Ah, Brother Masse, 
how different are these feelings from those first entertained ! From 
whence do these come, and from whence did those others arise ? " 
Mass6, seeing that his thoughts were discovered, threw himself at 
the saint's feet, and solicited his pardon. 

* 2 Paral. vii., 30; Jerem. xvii., 10; S. Chrys. liomil. 4 in Matt. cap. i., 
ver. 20. 

t In this he imitated the holy fathers of the desert, who, as C'assinn relates, 
somclimes ordered their disciples childish and seemingly unreasonable things, 
to teach them the holy folly of the cross, l.)y callini; on them to remnmce their 
own will, tlieir own Oj)ini()ns, and the wisilom of the world ; ami (iod sanc- 
tioned this hy many miracles. — Cassian, dc Instr. Ronunt., c.ip. n., 24 et .>e(|. 



470 S. FRANXIS OF ASSISI. 

A particular gift which Francis received from God, was the con- 
trol of animals. He gave them his commands, and they obeyed 
him, they did whatever he pleased ; it was, moreover, noticed th^t 
they showed a sort of affection for him, and applauded what he 
did in their way. Upon which two observations occur. The first 
is taken from St. Bonaventura, who says that the state of innocence 
was represented in the power which God gave to His servant over 
animals. Adam, just and innocent, had absolute control over 
them, and he exercised it in giving to each of them its proper name, 
when God made them pass before him, as we read in Genesis.* 
His sin caused him to lose this privilege, with all the others which 
had been attached to this happy state ; and we experience, as he 
did, the revolt of the animals, in punishment of his having dis- 
obeyed God. But when an eminent sanctity has brought men more 
to original justice, and has, in some measure, reestablished them 
in a state of innocence, it has sometimes pleased the Almighty to 
restore them to some of the privileges which man enjoyed in those 
times, and, in particular, this control over animals. This is what is 
seen in well-authenticated acts of many saints, and in what St. 
Bonaventura relates of St. Francis, on the testimony of ocular 
witnesses, as well as on the evidence of facts which were of public 
notoriety. 

The second thing which deserves notice is, that, when this holy 
man compelled animals to obey him, and when they appeared to 
be attached to him, it never occurred but when it was to give 
authority to the w^ord of God, to do some good to a neighbor, to 
give a salutary lesson, or to excite to the practice of some virtue, 
as we shall now see. It is another proof that these marvels had 
their source in God, who proposes, in all He does, some end 
worthy of His wisdom ; from which we must conclude that 
heretics could not have turned these things into ridicule, but 
through a malignity which is both irreligious and foolish. 

Francis left Assisi one day, to go to preach, not having any 
longer a doubt but that he and his brethren were called for the 
service of souls, after the mission they had received from God, 
and from the Supreme Pontiff, which was confirmed" by super- 
natural lights, as we have seen above. Being near to the town of 
Bevagna, he saw on a particular spot a number of birds collected, 
of various species, and he went up to them, and said: *'My 
brethren, listen to the word of God ; you have great reason to 
praise your Creator ; He has covered you with feathers ; He has 
given you wings wherewith to fly ; He has placed you in the air, 
where the breathing is so pure ; and He provides you with every- 
thing which is necessary, without giving you any trouble. '' While 

* Genes, ii., 19, 20. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 47I 

he was thus speaking and saying other similar things, the birds 
remained where they were, turning towards him, and those which 
were perched on the branches of trees, bending their heads, as if 
to Hsten to what he said. It was a curious thing to observe the 
joy they appeared to feel and make known by their motions ; they 
stretched their necks, they spread their wings, opened their beaks, 
and looked anxiously at the zealous preacher, who walked about 
in the midst of them, and sometimes touched them with his habit, 
without any of them stirring, l^hey only took to flight after he 
had given them leave, and made on them the sign of the cross, to 
bless them. 

It was God's intention to honor the ministry of the saint, in the 
eyes of his companions, by this miracle, which they witnessed, and 
the circumstances of which they communicated to St. Bonaventura. 
It was also to show the attention which ought to be given to the 
truths of salvation ; and this is the reason why Francis, in turning to 
them, said, with admirable candor : "I am very neglectful in not 
having as yet preached to the birds." He observed, by this 
apparent simplicity, which was full of good sense, that men often 
fail to listen to the preachers, as the birds had seemingly listened to 
him ; in the same sense in which St. Martin had said, when com- 
plaining of the insensibility of the men of his times : "They do 
not attend to me, though the serpents obey me.''* This means 
that, with the aid of reason and grace, they will not do what un- 
reasonable animals necessarily do, by the impulse of divine power. 

But why preach to birds ? will the sages of this age ask ; but 
why did David say what the Church repeats daily in her Divine 
Office.? *' Whales, and all that move in the waters, bless the 
Lord. All ye beasts and cattle, fowls of the air, bless the Lord.""!* 
The three young men who were in the furnace at Babylon, said 
the same thing. A heart full of love and gratitude would wish 
that all creatures should have hearts and tongues, to glorify the 
Author of their being ; he knows that even the beasts praise Him 
by the marks they bear of His power, wisdom, and goodness ; in 
seeing them, in speaking to them, he commemorates His sovereign 
greatness. • 

On leaving Bevagna, Francis went to preach in the borough of 
Alviano, and not being able to make himself heard, in conse- 
quence of the noise the swallows made, who had their nests there, 
he spoke these words to them : ''Swallows, my sisters, you have 
made yourselves heard long enough ; it is now my turn to speak. 
Listen, then, to the word of God, and keep silence while 1 preach." 
Immediately, as if they had understood what he said, they ceased 

* Sulp. Sev., Dial, iii., ii. 12. 

t rsaliu xi\.; I>nn. \iii., liip, ^; rsaliu ci\-.; 1 an., c?\\ iii. 



472 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

their noise, and remained where they were, to the end of his 
sermon. The fruit of this miracle was to revive the fervor and 
piety of the assembly, who glorified God, and listened to the 
preacher with wonderful deference. The circumstance was soon 
spread, and produced eveiy where a similar effect. 

St. Bona Ventura, who gives us this anecdote, adds, that, some 
time afterwards, a scholar at Paris,* who was of good conduct, 
having been interrupted in his studies by the chirping of a swallow, 
said to his companions: "This is one of those who interrupted 
the blessed Francis in his sermon, and which he silenced ; " having 
then addressed the swallow, he said, with great faith, '*In the 
name of Francis, the servant of God, I order you to be silent and 
to come to me." It was instantly silent, and came to him; in 
his surprise he let it go, and was not again troubled by it. It 
was thus it pleased God to honor the name of His servant. 

Other examples are found in the saint's life, of the power he 
exercised over animals, when, by their noise, or by any other 
means, they interrupted his sermons or prayers, as on his return 
from Syria, near the lagunes of Venice, where he saw a great 
number of birds which were singing. He went into the midst of 
them to say his office, with his companions, but the noise the birds 
made prevented their hearing each other ; Francis, upon that, 
ordered them to cease singing, till he had finished his office, and, 
in fact, says the holy doctor, the author of his life, from that 
moment they ceased their chirping until the office, being finished, 
he gave them leave to resume their song, which they did, as before. 
He took this opportunity to settle some of his religious there, 
to celebrate the praises of the Lord, as has been before noticed. 
St. Ambrose t speaks of a circumstance as well known to all the 
w^orld, that some of the faithful, having been assembled in a spot 
where the croaking of the frogs greatly disturbed them, a priest 
commanded them to be quiet, and to show respect for holy things, 
and that they immediately ceased from making any noise, and 
that these irrational animals respected what they were incapable of 
understanding. 

We have already seen that when Francis was at Grecio, he freed 
the country from the wolves which had ravaged it. At Gubio, he 
tamed one in an extraordinaiy manner. He took it into the 
public square where he preached, and having pointed out to his 
auditors that God sends sometimes these carnivorous animals to 
warn sinners to return to their duties, he addressed the wolf, and 
made an agreement with it, the clauses of which were, that the 

* S. Bonaventura, who had the degree of doctor at Paris, and had lived 
there a considerable time, who wrote while there, and at Mantes, the life of 
St. Francis, had every means of verifying this fact. 

i S. Ambr. de Virginib., lib. iii., cap. 3, n. 14. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 473 

inhabitants should find it in food, and that the wolf should do no 
injury to any of them. This was faithfully attended to on both 
sides. During two years the animal came to the town to feed, and 
did no mjury to any one. The holy man had tamed, in a similar 
manner, at Carinola, a fox that stole all the poultry of a poor old 
woman, and from which she received no injury afterwards. Simi- 
lar traits are found in the lives of many saints, whose acts are 
admitted to be authentic and certain, by the most talented critics. 
St. Athanasius "^ remarks, in the life of St. Anthony, that wild 
animals causing great damage in a field which he cultivated, he 
took one gently, and said to all the others, while speaking to the 
one he had caught, '' Why do you injure me, who never did you 
any harm ? go, and in the name of the Lord, never come here 
any more." The holy doctor adds, that from that time they were 
never again seen in that place, as if they had been afraid of dis- 
obeying him. Sulpicius Severus f relates of St. Martin, that he 
had an extraordinary control over all animals ; that, resting him- 
self one day with his disciples, on the bank of a river, he saw a 
snake swimming over, and he ordered it in the name of the Lord 
to swim back again, upon which it was seen to return with as much 
speed as it had come. James, who wrote the life of St. Colum- 
ban, [f given by the learned Father Mabillon, after Surius, states 
that the crows and the bears obeyed him, and that all the beasts 
of the field came at his call, in the same manner as those which 
are domesticated. It was in order to teach men to esteem and 
imitate a virtue which the Lord caused to be respected, even by 
dumb animals. 

The obedience which irrational animals rendered to St, Francis 
was frequently a sensible stimulus to the practice of virtue. The 
language which pagans imputed to them, and from which they drew 
axioms of morality, had nothing in it but what was fabulous; but 
truly did God confound the avarice and criminal subserviency of 
Balaam, § by opening the mouth of the ass || which spoke to him. 
We should have no more difficulty in beli;jving that God, by an 
act of His power, had made some animals pertorm some instruc- 
tive actions which were commanded them by one of His most 

* Vit. S. Anton., n. 50, f Sulp. Sev., Dial, iii., n. 12. 

X Vit. S. Colomb., n. 25, 27 et 30, inter Act. SS. Old. S. r>ened. 

} Numb, xxii., 28 et 30; 2 I'etr. ii., 16. 

II S. Augustine says, that C,o\ made no clian[;c in the natnre of this animal, 
and only made use of it as an instrument to |-roduce the sounds and words 
whicli lie intended to convey to tht* wicked pn.piiet. Qxst in Numb.. 48 
and 50. This was neither more miraculous nor more difficult to believe than 
what we read in the same book of Numbers, chapters xxiii. and xxiv., thai 
Balaam l)lessed the Israelites lliree times, whom lie desired to have cursed, 
and tliat his tonj^ue was mv)vcd by a very different spirit horn that which 
posscrsed his lieari. 



11 



474 5. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

faithful servants, than we have in crediting the above, especially 
when we have so faithful a reporter of the fact as St. Bonaventura, 
who had received them from ocular witnesses. 

St. Francis, when at Rome, in 1222, had always with him a 
little lamb, to remind him of the Lamb of God, who chose to be 
sacrificed for us. When he was about to leave the eternal city, he 
confided the little animal to the care of the Lady of Septisal, the 
illustrious widow of whom we have often had occasion to speak. 
The little lamb, as if it had been trained to spiritual exercises by 
the holy man, followed this lady to church, stayed there, and 
returned with her, never leaving her. If she was behind her usual 
time of rising in a morning, it would go to her bed, where, by 
bleating or striking the bed with its head, or other motions, it 
seemed to call upon her to rise, and offer her grateful prayer to 
God. The lady was much attached to this lamb, and took care 
of it, says St. Bonaventura, as a disciple of Francis, which had 
become her instructor in devotion. 

A present was made to the holy father, at St. Mary of the 
Angels, of a sheep; he received it thankfully, because of the inno- 
cence and simplicity of which it was a symbol, and he said to it, 
as if it could understand him, that it was necessary it should assist 
at the praises of the Lord, without incommoding the brethren ; 
the sheep obeyed with great punctuality. When the religious 
went to the choir, to sing the office, the sheep went of itself to the 
church, placed itself at the foot of the altar of the Blessed Virgin, 
bent in its fore-legs, and bleated in a low tone, as if to pay its 
homage. It did the same at Mass, when the Host was elevated. 
St. Bonaventura remarks, that this animal, by the respect it mani- 
fested during the celebration of the sacred mysteries, taught the 
Christians the deep reverence with which they ought to assist at 
Mass, and at the same time passed a deserved censure on those 
who are irreverent or indevout during its celebration. How many 
worldly persons are there who assist at Mass as if it was a profane 
assembly, staring about with immodest airs, and in unbecoming 
postures.?* They chatter and converse, as if they were anywhere 
else, and scarcely do they bend a knee when the sacred body of 
Jesus Christ is elevated, in order that they may adore it. How 
criminal ! how scandalous ! without adverting further to the out- 
rages of mind and heart which are offered to the Son of God, in 
this august sacrifice. Where is their faith ? where is their religion.?* 
Did the pagans ever show a want of respect, when they sacrificed 
to their false gods ? How shameful is it that the worship of the 
true God should be so disgraced 1 What punishments are pre- 
pared for such profanations!* 

* See Bourdaloue's sermon on the Mass, for the Monday of the fourth week 
of Lent. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 475 

The smallest things raised the heart of St. Francis to God, and 
he made use of them to create similar feelings in the hearts of 
his disciples. The chirping of a grasshopper, which was on a fig- 
tree, near his cell, inspired him with fresh fervor ; he called it, and 
it came to him directly, and he made it sing on his hand, which 
it began anew, whenever he required it. At the end of eight days 
he said to his companions, ''Let it now go; it has excited us 
long enough to praise God;" at the very moment the grasshopper 
flew away, and was seen no more. One day, as he was about to 
take his collation with Brother Leo, he felt himself interiorly con- 
soled, on hearing a nightingale sing. Ke begged Leo to sing the 
praises of God alternately wiih the bird ; the latter having excused 
himself, alleging the badness of his voice, he himself responded 
to the bird, and continued to do so till night, when he was obliged 
to give over, acknowledging ,that the little bird had beaten him. 
He made it come upon his hand, and praised it for having sung so 
well, fed it, and it was only after he had desired it to leave him, 
and given it his blessing, that the nightingale flew away. 

In the impression which the power of God affected upon ani- 
mals, in favor of St. Francis, there was this further circumstance, 
which was marvellous : that they seemed to have an affection for 
him, and appeared pleased when they saw him. It is St. Bona- 
ventura who gives several examples of this. 

The servant of God, going to Sienna, passed near a flock of sheep 
which were feeding in a meadow. He greeted them, as was his 
custom, with an air of kindness, and immediately the sheep, the 
rams, and the lambs, left their pasture, came to him, lifted up their 
heads to greet him in their manner, which was greatly wondered 
at by the shepherds and by his companions. Hares and rabbits 
were presented to him, which had been caught alive ; they were 
put before him on the ground, and they immediately sprang into 
his arms. Although he gave them their liberty, they remained 
with him, and he was obliged to have them removed fixr off into 
the country, by some of his reHgious, and put in a place of safety. 

On the banks of the lake of Rieti, a fisherman gave him a live 
water-fowl. After having kept it a little while, he trietl to make it 
fly away, but in vain. He then raised his eyes to heaven, and 
remained for more than an hour in a state of ecstasy, after which 
he mildly ordered the bird t(^ go away and praise the LcmxI, and 
he gave it his blessing. The bird showed signs of pleasure hv its 
motions, and flew away. On the same lake, a large fish which 
had been just caught, was presented to him; he held it for some time 
in his hand, and then put it back in the water. The fish remained 
in the same place, playing in the water helore him, as if out of 
regard for him; it could not leave him, and did not disappear till 
ii had received the saint's leave, together with his blessing. Some- 



476 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

thing similar is found in the life of St. Columban.* One of his 
disciples affirms, that in his soHtude he often called to him birds 
and wild beasts, and that they came on hearing his voice ; that he 
caressed them with his hand, and that they returned his caresses, 
as Httle dogs do those of their masters. 

The first time that St. Francis went to Mount Alverno, he was 
surrounded by a multitude of birds, w^hich lit upon his head, on 
his shoulders, on his breast, and on his hands, evincing by their 
beaks and w^ngs the pleasure his arrival caused them, w^hich he 
noticed to his companions, as a mark of the wdll of God that he 
should remain in this mountain. When he came thither, and 
received the Stigmata there, the birds greeted him in a similar 
manner ; and a hawk, which could only have come thither by 
a supernatural impulse, attached itself peculiarly ,to his person. 
When the hour of the night drew near, at which Francis rose to 
pray, the bird did not fail to come and make a noise at the door 
of the cell. This punctuality was very pleasing to the saint, be- 
cause it caused him to be watchful ; but when his infirmities were 
more severe than usual, the bird, well taught by Him who controlled 
his movements, did not come to w^ake him till sunrise, and even 
then did not make so much noise as usual. St. Bonaventura 
considers these marvels which God operated for his servant on 
I\Iount Alverno, by means of birds, as a divine foreboding of the 
great favor he received some few days alter, when, being raised 
by the wings of contemplation, the wdnged and crucified seraph 
appeared to him, and imprinted on his body the w^ounds of Jesus 
Christ. 

The Lord bore witness to his sanctity until the very day of his 
death, by the affection w4iich animals seemed to have for him. 
It is once more St. Bonaventura who affords us the proofs of this. 
When St. Francis was ill at Sienna, a gentleman sent him a live 
pheasant, which had been just caught. As soon as the bird saw 
the saint, and heard his voice, it attached • itself so intensely to 
him, that it could not bear to be away from him ; it was often 
taken to the vineyards, to induce it to fly away, but it always flew 
quickly back to the father. It was put into the hands of a worthy 
man, who often came to see the sick man, but as long as it was 
awav, it would not feed ; but on being brought back, and seeing 
the father, it showed signs of pleasure, and fed greedily. On the 
day of the saint's death, which happened on the 4th of October, a 
multitude of larks lit upon the roof of the convent, although it 
was at nightfall, and they dislike the dark ; they sang for a long 
time, and their warbling, which appeared to have something pecu- 
liar in it, was an evidence as pleasing as it w^as convincing of the 




• Vit. S. Culomb., n. 30, inter Act. SS. Old. S. Bened., sec. 2. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 477 

glory of the servant of God, who had so often invited them to 
praise their Creator. 

It has been thought, for many reasons, that in giving his life 
to the pubHc, these extraordinary occurrences should not be 
suppressed: i. Because St. Bonaventura, who was so prudent and 
eminent a divine, has thought it right to give them a place in his 
legend. 2. They are warranted by precedents, in the examples 
given by St. Athanasius, St. Ambrose, Sulpicius Severus, * and 
several other grave authors, whose works have merited the esteem 
of the learned. 3. Some passages in the Holy Scriptures may be 
adduced in favor of their credibility. In the Third Book of Kings, 
God says to the Prophet Elias : " Hide thyself by the torrent of 
Carith. I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there," f and 
the sacred author adds, "and the ravens brought him bread and 
flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he 
drank of the torrent." The prophet Daniel, in the lions' den in 
which he was, replied to King Darius: ''My God has sent His 
angels, and hath shut up the mouths of the lions, and they have 
not hurt me, forasmuch as before Him justice hath been found 
in me." J Our Savior placed among the number of miracles, that 
those who believed § would perform many in His name, such as 
taking up serpents, handling them, and killing them without 
their doing them any injury. || Is it, then, incredible that God, by 
His power, should have made impressions on various sorts of ani- 
mals, to render them obedient to the voice of His servants ? 4. We 
have paid little heed to a handful of unbelievers, and some wise 
worldlings, enemies of anything marvellous, where religion is con- 
cerned, who exert their talent for railleiy more on what is sacred 
than on what is profane ; but, in order to pander to their malevo- 
lence, or to avoid their false and dangerous prejudices, it has not 
been thought reasonable to deprive the faithful of the instruction 
given them in the obedience and respect given to the saint, even 
by animals. Venerable Beda ^ teaches us, that our Lord shows 
us by that the state in which we should have been, had we net 
disobeyed Him, which is a reflection which should cause us to 
sigh, and to submit, in a spirit of penance, to the punishment, which 
is the chastisement of sin. St. Bonaventura says, that all creatures 
were submissive to St. Francis, because he had brougiit his flesh 
entirely under subjection to his spirit, and his spirit to*God. Now, 
according to St. Augustine,** it is in this twofold submission that 

* As above. t 3 Reg. xvii., 3, 1 et 6. | Dan. vi., 22. 

$ It does not follow from this that nil those who have faith must work mira- 
cles. This jrift has been promised princij^nlly to the Cliurch in i^cticral. for 
certain occasions, where it mii;ht be necessary 'lor her, and wc have seen Us 
fulfilment when the good of religion has recjiiired it. 

II Mark xvi., 18. S\ Beda in Ilex. ♦* In Psalm cxliii.. n C 



47S S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

the whole order of a Christian life consists ; by that wild beasts 
are spiritually controlled by restraining the passions, since, in the 
opinion of St. Gregor}^ and St. Bernard,"^' to stifle venomous sug- 
gestions is to kill serpents. Finally, the empire of samts over 
animals is an anticipated reward for the innocence of their lives, 
and for their inviolable fidelit}^ in the sendee of God ; and does 
not this give us some idea of the infinite good which God has pre- 
pared for those who love Him ? St. Augustine said, in speaking 
of the great miracles which were performed by the relics of St 
Stephen, in all countries : " Figure to youi"selves, my brethren, what 
God has prepared for us in the land of the living, in the considera- 
tion of what He effects in this world, by the ashes of the dead/'f 
]\Iay we not also say: " If God has given such power to His friends 
while they were on earth, He now fulfils in their regard what 
Jesus Christ has promised in His Gospel, that ' the Master wdll 
establish the good and faithful servant over all His goods '"?X Let 
us, then, faithfully serve a IMaster who is so magnificent in His 
rewards ; let us imitate the saints, in order to share with them, not 
in the gift of working miracles in this world, but in the graces which 
sanctified them, and in the happiness which they enjoy in heaven. 

The life of St. Francis furnishes many other wonders of this 
nature, the memor\- of which is preser\^ed in many parts of Italy, 
and which are inserted in the Annals of Wading. Here, however, 
are only two examples of the assistance he obtained from God, for 
the wants of his brethren. At his return from Spain, great numbers 
of them came to St. Donin, in Lombardy, to congratulate him ; 
they joined those of the convent, and went before him. When 
they had thus escorted him, it happened that at dinner-time they 
were short of bread, because no one had remained at home to fetch 
it. The saint ordered the dispenser to look into the place where 
the bread was usually kept, and he found there a quantity of 
new bread, where, a moment before, there had been none. The 
religious acknowledged the power which God had given to their 
father, and ate of it with great respect, as a present from heaven. 

The other miracle was common to him and to St. Dominic, and 
has something very singular in it. It is taken from a Spanish 
manuscript, written by one of the companions of the patriarch of 
the Friars Preachers, § of which this is an abridgment from the 
original, which is very lengthy : — 

"St. Francis holding a chapter of his Order in a small town, our 
father, St. Dominic, was near him, as they frequently visited each 
other for spiritual conversation. There were no provisions in the 
convent ; dinner-time came, and there was nothing to eat The 

* S. Greg., Homil. 29. in Evang. S. Bern., Serm. i, in Asc. Dom., n. 3. 
t S. August., Serm. 317, n. i. j Matt xxiv., 27. 

§ Cod. MS., foil. 13. 14 et 15. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSLSI. 479 

two saints betook themselves to prayer, and feeling that their prayers 
had been favorably heard, they assembled the religious in the 
refectory, where, after grace had been said, twenty young men of 
great comeliness were seen to enter the room, with everything neces- 
sary for their repast, who, having waited at table, retired two 
and two. Dinner being finished, St. Dominic made a beautiful 
discourse on confidence in God ; he was accustomed to preach in 
the convents of the Order of Friars Minors, when he happened to 
be there. This was owing to his great intimacy with St. Francis, 
since God had brought them together." This finishes the narra- 
tive of the author ; what he relates is m^uch to be admired, but 
David assures us * that the Lord has always His eyes open on them 
that fear Him, in order to provide for their necessities. He gave 
a miraculous proof of this to the prophet Elias,f causing him to 
find bread and w^ater in the desert ; and to the widow of Sarepta, 
in multiplying her flour and oil ; J and in what He manifested in 
a splendid manner in favor of St. Francis, at the famous chapter of 
the Mats, where more than five thousand religious were satisfied 
by the marvellous intervention of Providence, as has been recorded 
above, by the wtI tings of St. Bonaventura. 

An eminent and manifest holiness, accompanied by evident mir- 
acles, drew extraordinary honors on the servant of the Almighty. 
We have seen the consideration in which he was held by ' 
popes, cardinals, bishops, kings, princes, nobility, and magis- 
trates. The Sultan of Egypt, even at the time the Christians 
were making w-ar upon him, treated Francis with a distinction 
full of esteem and respect. The legend composed by order of 
Pope Gregory IX mentions particularly, ''that, on his arrival in 
cities, towns, and villages, the clergy and people, the great and 
the lowly, men and women, went out to meet him, cariying great 
boughs, and singing hymns of praise and joy. Some kissed the 
ground on which he trod, others strove to touch his poor tunic, 
many cut pieces off it, and it was sometimes necessary to tell him 
that this had been done. Those who could touch him and kiss 
his feet, esteemed themselves fortunate." 

The heretics paid him their homage, by the confusion which his 
presence caused them ; far from having the courage to oppose his 
mission, they hid themselves, and did not dare to appear where he 
was. The faithful, delighted, flocked from all parts to see him. 
His attachment to the Catholic doctrine, and to the See of St. 
Peter, apparent in the holiness of his life, and the miracles he 
performed, strengthened them in the belief of orthodox truths ; it 
was a triumph for the faith. In flict, so holy a life can only be 
found in the true Church, and it is only to her children that God 



Psalm xxxii:, 18, 19. f 3 Rc£^. xix., 16. \ Ibid. xvii.. 16. 



480 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISE. 

grants the testimony of miracles. The virtue of heretics is coun- 
terfeit, for there has never been any true virtue without faith. All 
the miracles which they pretend have been performed, confirmatory 
uf their doctrine, are false ; for God is incapable of authorizing 
error. It must also be remarked that, in all the honors shown to 
the blessed father, who was a poor man, meanly clothed, of no 
show, solely solicitous to appear contemptible, he became, neverthe- 
less, the object of public veneration, and was considered the wonder 
of his age. The saymg of St. Augustine is verified, that a soul 
eminent for sublime virtue can no more be hid than a city built 
on a mountain ; * or, as the wise man says, " Gloiy shall uphold 
the humble of spirit, and humility goes before glory. "f 

The personal qualities of St. Francis attached men to him in a 
scarcely less degree than his extraordinaiy sanctity ; and the gift 
he possessed of working miracles, called for their admiiation. This 
is the portrait we find of him in the legend we have before alluded 
to : " Our blessed father was agreeable to all. Joy, serenity, kind- 
ness, and modesty, were perceptible in his countenance. He was 
naturally mild and affable, compassionate, liberal, prudent, dis- 
creet, gave sound advice, was faithful to his word, and full of 
courage ; he was easy in his manners, accommodating himself to 
all sorts of tempers ; he was all to all, he was a saint among the 
saintly, and among sinners, as if he was one of them ; his con- 
versation was graceful, and his manner insinuating ; close in his 
reasoning, energetic and compliant in matters of business; and, 
finally, simple in his actions and words." 

These are qualifications well calculated to make their possessor 
beloved, particularly when joined, as in the case of St. Francis, 
with the purest morals, with the most ardent charity, the most pro- 
found humility, and a countenance which seemed angelical. After 
the portrait of his mind, we find in the same narrative the follow- 
ing description of his person : ;{; " He was of middle size, neither 
short nor tall, but well shaped. His face was oval, his forehead 
smooth, his eyes black and modest, iiis mouth pretty ; his hair was 
of chestnut color, his beard black, but scanty, his body very thin, 
his skin delicate, his speech pleasing and animated, his voice strong 
and piercing, but altogether mild and sonorous.*' 

\ye must leceive in their true sense what was understood in 

* S. Aug. de Serm. Dom. in Monte, lib. I, cap. 6. 

t Prov. xxix.. 23; and xv., 33. 

I We see from this description that the most talented painters have not 
given us a correct likeness of St. Francis. There is one in the convent of 
tlie Recollects, at Paris, which answers to the description which his com- 
panions have left us of him, but the engravers have refused to copy it, because 
it is not by one of the first masters. It would be desirahle that some clever 
artist would work upon the sketch those who had seen the saint have left us 
of him, and upon what is correct in the bad painting. 



S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 48 1 

saying that ''he was simple in his actions and words/' The term 
simpHcity has two significations in the French language. It is 
used to describe a person of little mind, narrow-minded, dull, not 
well informed, weak and credulous ; it is also used to express can- 
dor, ingenuousness, and uprightness ; to describe a person who is 
natural, without finesse or artfulness. It is in this sense that it is 
said that the greatest genmses are the most simple ; enemies of 
sublety and trick, which are only appropriate to narrow minds. 
The simplicity of the just, in Scriptural language, is true virtue, 
solid without drawback, purity of heart, uprightness of intention ; 
in opposition to every sort of duplicity or disguise — everything 
that St. Paul calls ''the prudence of the flesh; the wisdom of 
this world."* St Gregory so explains it.f This does not exclude 
prudence, but only malice and double-dealing. Our blessed Lord 
warns us "to be prudent as serpents, and simple as doves. " J St. 
Paul says : " I would have you to be wise in good, and simple in 
evil. " § Every Christian must be simple in faith, submitting him- 
self purely and simply to the decisions of the Church, without any 
endeavor to elude them by crafty evasions, as some do in so scan- 
dalous a manner ; simple in the intercourse of society, being frank 
and sincere, doing injury to no one ; simple in devotion, going 
straight to God ; following the way pointed out by the Gospel ; not 
resembling those of whom the wise man says: " They go two 
ways, and have two hearts, "|| the one for God, and the other for 
the world. 

Such was the simplicity of St. Francis, or, to speak plainer, he 
was simple because he had no other intention in his mind, no 
other movement in his heart, than to be conformed to Jesus 
Christ. In order to imitate His poverty, His humility, His suff'er- 
ings, all His virtues, he did many things far above the ordinary 
rules of human wisdom ; and, as to his language, it was formed on 
that of the Gospel. For this reason some persons in the world 
looked upon him as a simple-minded man, who had more piety 
than strength of mind, more fervor than understanding. 

But, in the first place, they do not reflect that what appears 
little to the eyes of the flesh is great in the eye of faith, by the 
excellence of the model, and by the magnanimity of the motive. 
Is it, then, a trifling thing to conform in all matters to Jesus 
Christ, in order to become agreeable to God ; 'to embrace the 
folly of the cross, and to put in practice what is recommended by 
St. Paul : " If any man among you seem to be wise in this world, 
let him become a fool, that he may be wise ; for the wisdom of 
this world is foolishness with God" ? ^ 

"* Rom. viii., 6. i Cor. iii., .9 t S. Grei^. in )oh. Hl>. 

I, cap. I, et lib. 10. cap. 2Q, alias 16. t Matt, x., 16. 

% Rom. xvi., 19. II Eccli. ii., 14; nnd iii . 2S. i[ i C\)r. iii., iS ct 19. 

1 I 



482 S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 

In the second place, it is forgotten that St. Francis performed 
actions of which even the world, if it judge correctly, must ac- 
knowledge the greatness. Renouncing all the things of this 
world with more reality and generosity than the most celebrated 
and vaunted philosophers. Poor, alone, without influence, with- 
out support, to have undertaken what would have made the 
richest hesitate — the repair of three churches — and to have suc- 
ceeded in this undertaking. To have formed the plan of a society 
of men, destitute of all the goods of this world, who were to spread 
themselves over the whole earth, and have no other funds for 
their subsistence than the providence of the Supreme Being. 
With an ordinary parable, and without any intrigue, to have caused 
this singular plan to be approved by popeS; by cardinals, by the 
greatest and most learned men who were hostile to it, and to carry 
it into execution with a success which has been the admiration 
of the universe for the last six hundred years. To have induced 
worldlings to forsake riches, honors, and pleasures, to place them- 
selves in the centre of poverty, humiliation, and penance. To 
make as much impression, by the eloquence of his preaching, 
upon the nobles as upon the people, upon the learned as upon the 
ignorant. To have had the courage to pass over seas, to go 
through hostile armies, to preach to a Mahometan prince the 
religion of Jesus Christ ; to have convinced, to have moved, and 
to have compelled that prince to respect the holy truths of the 
Gospel. To have devoted himself to public utility, to have lived 
solely for the service of 'others, to have worked incessantly to reform 
the morals of the people, reestablished peace and concord, to 
render men reasonable and Christians : — all this is what St. Francis 
did ; and is this not something great ? Can the world refuse to 
admit it to be so ? To act thus, is it not necessary to have talents, 
judgment, penetration, adroitness, and strength of mind ? It is true 
that the spirit of God gave him supernatural lights and extra- 
ordinary^ strength ; but these gifts do not prevent our admiring 
the qualifications which were in his nature. Let the character 
of his mind, his talents, and his natural dispositions, be carefully 
studied, and no doubt will remain that he was destined for great 
things. 

He may be compared to St. Anthony, the patriarch of ceno- 
bitical life, and to St. Martin, the Bishop of Tours, for these three 
saints have some peculiar relations to each other, which will be 
very apparent on reading their lives. Although St. Anthony had 
not studied, and lived in great simplicity in the mountainous parts 
of the desert, he had, nevertheless, according to St. Athanasius,* 
penetrating and lively wit, rare prudence, wonderful facility in 

* Vit. S. Anton., n. 72 et seq. 



I 

i 



~ S. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. 483 

confounding, by solid arguments, both the pagan philosophers 
and the Arian heretics. His sanctity did not render him rude 
and boorish ; he was well-bred and polite ; his conversation was 
remarked to be what the expression of the apostle describes,* 
graceful and seasoned with salt. No one can say that St. Martin 
was deficient in talents, — that illustrious bishop, who was so greatly 
esteemed by St. Hilary, St. Ambrose, St. Paulinus, and other great 
personages of his age ; who governed his diocese with so much pru- 
dence ; who spoke to princes with so much firmness, and was so 
honored by them ; f whose discourses were so convincing ; whose 
conversation was no less remarkable for its vivacity and agreeable- 
ness, than for its gravity and dignity ; who was wholly master of the 
Scriptures ; who explained and developed the most hidden mysteries 
in such choice, appropriate, and energetic terms, that Sulpicius 
Severus, who was a very learned man, assures us that he never 
heard anything to equal it, from any other person whatsoever. 
Nevertheless, St. Martin had not studied ; J he was a man of great 
simplicity, very^ poor, and so negligent of his exterior appearance, 
that it often drew upon him contempt. He was looked upon as 
weak in mind, and foolish. § When it was proposed to make him 
Bishop of Tours, there were some bishops who rejected him as a 
contemptible person, unworthy of the episcopate ; and, after his 
election, || he continued to wear the same liveiy of penance and 
humility, and was desirous of appearing equally vile in the eyes 
of men. 

St. Francis was similarly simple, but he had great qualities of 
mind and heart ; and his simplicity was a perfection in him — not a 
defect. If it induced him to do things of which human prudence 
disapproves, it was because he was guided by divine light ; it was 
because he sought to be despised by the woild, to render himself 
more conformable to Jesus Christ. Men of his age vv'ere not de- 
ceived by it ; they discovered the principle which made him act 
and speak with such simplicity. His constant endeavor to humble 
himself, and draw on himself contempt, only gave them a greater 
esteem for his person, and they loaded him with honors. If our 
age deems itself wiser, what reason has it lor not doing similar 
justice ? 



THE END. 



* Coloss. iv., 6. t Snip. Sev., Vit. S. M., n. 26. Id. Dial. 2, 11. 10. 

t Paulin. Petroc, Vit. S. Mart., lib. 4. ^S Snip. Sev., Vit. S. Mart., n. 7. 
II S. Greg. Turon., Hist. Franc, lil). 2, cap. i. 



,1 



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V^J> 



